Kyle XY Season 6
by Sir Koji
Summary: The final season of Kyle XY, finally here for you guys. I hope my fans will continue to enjoy this conclusion.
1. The Categories of Life

Ok, this is the start of Season 6, the final season. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I really am. But I'm a Criminal Justice student, and as such my summer was filled and I wasn't able to do this, so I worked on my other works instead because I knew this took the most effort to do, after I feel like I failed in some regards in the previous two seasons, such as not using the Tragers enough (as you'll see, things changed).

But because of school and because of work, I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment. I'll do my very best to get a chapter every week or so out, but it might not be until January that I get the bulk of the season out to you guys, and I'm sorry about that.

Again, I have the music for each episode on my YT account. "AvonRen" is my username, once again.

I hope that you will enjoy this. This first chapter is a lot different than usual, but it's really only for this chapter that this format is going to be used. Later chapters (unless otherwise noted) will have a better balance, but this chapter and chapter 2 will have an offset balance for plot purposes, really.

Well, here it is. The final season of Kyle XY.

* * *

1: The Categories of Life

Declan stood in a black suit and looked at the Latnok building where he, Jessi and Kyle had gone to try to stop Latnok. The day was somber, dark. It suited Declan's mood, it suited everything. Every memory.

The pain he had gone through that day hit him on multiple levels. He remembered the beatings he had taken from security. He remembered that they left him for dead, and so he crawled to Jessi, grabbing her bleeding body and holding tight, trying to awaken her, trying to get any sort of response. But she gave him nothing.

He feared her dead.

It seemed as though he had lost both Kyle and Jessi that day. He had held her body tight, and began to pray. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was God, but Jessi slowly came to, and her wound slowly began to heal. Apparently she knew of Adam Baylin doing a similar trick, and of course she was stronger than Baylin, so she healed more quickly.

But still, it had put a great fear into him. She had been dead, as far as he could tell.

Now he stood there again, fingering the rosary in his pocket. This was what he had taken up. Prayer. Faith.

He shook his head, "Kyle…," he said softly, his grip subconsciously tightening on the rosary when he realized it, as he realized it every time.

Kyle still wasn't here.

* * *

"Hey mom," Lori said, looking out her apartment window at the streets of New York, "Yeah, I'm doing fine," she said.

"That's good," Nicole answered on the other end of the phone, "So, New York and music are going well for you?"

"They are," she said, looking at her guitar in the corner, "Yeah, I've been able to impress some people recently. It's going really well."

The guitar was covered in dust.

"Yeah, no, this was the right choice," she told her mother. A knock came at her door, so she quickly said, "Well, I have to go. Sorry."

"No, it's ok," Nicole answered, "We can talk tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," Lori said, "Ok, bye."

"Bye," Nicole said as Lori hang up.

Lori walked to her door and opened it, "Hey," she said, smiling to the friend who was at her door.

The other girl came inside, "So, you ready to go out?" she asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Just let me get my purse."

The girl nodded and sat down on Lori's couch, "So, you think you'll find a guy tonight to go home with?"

"I don't know Alex," she told her friend, "I'm looking."

"Look harder," she told Lori, "I've watched you. You apparently suck at flirting."

"Oh, do I?" Lori questioned, "I'll prove you wrong."

"You've said that before," Alex told her, getting up when Lori came back out, "And yet I've never seen you go home with a guy."

"Has it ever occurred to you that we didn't leave together, but I might have called him later? Or he called me?" Lori questioned.

"Well, a guy sure as hell wouldn't do that," Alex said, "I don't think they'd be patient enough to get into the pants of a girl they pick up at a bar."

Lori sighed, not really having a comeback for that, "Ok, fine. What do you want me to say?"

"The truth?" Alex suggested.

"Ok, fine," Lori said, "Just don't laugh."

"No promises," Alex answered.

"Well…there was a guy back in Seattle, and I just can't get him off my mind," Lori told Alex.

"Mark?" Alex asked.

Lori didn't even take a moment to think, "No," she said, "Not Mark."

"Oh, there was another guy in your life that was like that, then?" Alex asked, "And here I thought this Mark guy was the one who haunted you."

"No. The one who haunts me is someone completely different," Lori said.

* * *

"Yeah!" Josh called out, raising his glass and then draining it with two friends as they drained theirs. "I love this bar!" he called out.

"You'd think being this close to a college campus, the police would step up their enforcement or something," one of his friends said.

"Whoa, whoa, are you seriously telling me you think this glorious non-ID checking establishment should be more harshly regulated?" Josh questioned.

"No, I'm just saying…," his friend said.

"Yeah, just messing with you," Josh said.

The other friend spoke up, "You know, Drew has a point. If police do show up, we're all kind of screwed."

"Oh come on, that's not going to happen," Josh said, looking back at the bar, "I'm going to get another."

Drew and the other man nodded, letting him go. He set his mug on the bar and ordered another drink, sitting there for a moment while it got filled back up. He pulled his money out and set it on the bar, taking the mug and heading back over when somebody grabbed him from behind.

"ID," the person said in a deep voice, "I know you're not old enough."

"What?" Josh questioned, turning, "I…damn it Andy!"

Andy smiled, "Oh come on, that was funny."

"I almost pissed myself," he told her, heading back towards his friends.

"Oh, is that so?" she asked, grabbing the mug from his hands and drinking from it, "Well, better fix that problem before we get together. Or we do it in your bed. I don't want piss in mine."

"You know that won't happen," he said.

"You just said it might, and you were scared," she said, "I'm sure I can scare you."

"How?" he questioned.

"Three simple words. Or just one."

He turned to her, "You think 'I love you' is going to make me piss myself?" he questioned her.

"Maybe," she said, "Or 'pregnant'. Your pick."

He shook his head, "I know your tricks."

"Oh, do you now?" she questioned him, walking past him and going to the others.

He followed her, smiling a little. He had gotten very lucky to be with her again, but a part of him couldn't help but think that this wouldn't last for very long. He didn't know why he thought that. He didn't want to think that, nor did he want that to become a reality. But it was on his mind.

* * *

Stephen went to the door when there was a knock. He found Declan standing there, "Hi Mr. Trager," Declan said.

"Hi Declan," Stephen answered, "You looking for Jessi?"

He took a moment, "I was actually wondering if you had heard from Lori recently," he said, knowing there was no sense in asking the obvious.

"Nicole was talking to her yesterday," he answered, "I think she was going to call again later today, if you had a message you wanted for Lori to get."

"No," he said, "I was just wondering if she had mentioned me at all. Or wanted to talk to me," he said.

"I don't think so," Stephen said, "I could ask Nicole."

"No, that's fine," he said, keeping his right hand in his pocket, holding his rosary, which he always carried. Not just on that day, but always.

He nodded, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

Declan looked at the house next door, then looked back to Stephen, "Yeah. Do you know if Amanda is around at all?"

"She's not," he said, "Or not that I've seen. I don't know where she is, but I can guess she's not in college here."

Declan nodded, "Thanks," he said, letting his grip on the rosary slacken. He wanted to talk to her. She was the one who knew more about faith and religion, after all.

He looked at Stephen again, "I'll be going then," he said.

Stephen just nodded to him and closed the door. Declan stood there for a few moments and then turned and walked down the steps and towards the road. He never liked going back and talking to either of them, but especially not Stephen.

To him, it felt like Stephen was cold. It felt like Stephen blamed him.

He had every right to, as far as he was concerned. Tom Foss had left Declan in charge of protecting Kyle, and…

And on top of that, Jessi had been shot. Even if she had healed herself, she had still been shot, and had taken time to recover with the Tragers. He blamed himself. He wished he had done more, and done his job better.

He also wished he could find Tom Foss.

He drew his hand from his pocket, taking out his keys. He sat in his car, lifting his keys up to the ignition. His hand trembled the entire time, and it took him a few tries to get the keys into the ignition. He drew his right hand up, looking at it in front of his face.

It was trembling. It did this a lot now. Ever since Latnok. Ever since he had been beaten nearly to death. He hadn't seen any doctors, fearing the worst. Jessi hadn't been able to help him either, and he kept it as secretive as possible.

He needed Foss. He needed that man to take up his position again. Assuming that Kyle…

Declan shook his head. He was no good as a guardian, as a protector. Not anymore. He had tried shooting. He had tried exercises and training. His body wasn't up for it.

Not since he had failed Kyle.

* * *

"Who was that?" Nicole asked when Stephen came into the kitchen.

"Declan," he said.

"I imagine you didn't take that too well," she said.

"Why would you say that?" he asked her.

She looked to him, "Well, every time Declan's come around, I've never seen you act friendly towards him," she said, "Not since Kyle vanished."

"I have too acted friendly towards him," he told her.

"You blame him," Nicole said, "And if you have, then I clearly wasn't around."

"Look, ok, maybe I do blame him. Foss was Kyle's protector, and then Declan took that place, and now Kyle's gone," he told Nicole.

"And he still comes around here," Nicole said, "He feels guilty."

"Well he should," Stephen said.

"You heard what Jessi had to say about that day," Nicole said.

"I did."

"So do you blame her too?" Nicole asked.

"No, because she's not his 'protector'," Stephen said.

"She's still helped him, and been there," Nicole said, "If you blame Declan, you should blame her too."

He had no real argument for this, so he just left the room, rather than argue.

Nicole looked out the window, "Kyle…"

* * *

"I'm surprised you wanted to do this," Josh had to admit while in bed with Andy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned, "Do you think I find you repulsive, or something?"

"Well, no. I mean, we haven't exactly had the most stable relationship," he told her, "Does sex really guarantee anything good?"

"You're not one to complain about sex," she said, "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"No! God no!" he told her, "I was just thinking…well, over-thinking, I guess. It's nothing."

"It had better be nothing," she said.

"It's nothing," he assured her.

"Good," she said.

But both of them knew that there was something. Both knew that this wasn't exactly the most stable relationship.

"I need to go to class," Josh told her.

"I'm not stopping you."

"You are," he said, "I can't leave with you here. I mean, that'll be stuck in my head, and it'll be too hard to leave. I'll just want to come back."

"So you need me to leave so that you can leave?" she asked him.

"Yeah, kind of," he said.

She sighed, "Fine then," she said, "But don't say I never do anything for you."

"You did plenty," he said.

"Is that all I'm good for to you?" she questioned him.

"No!" he told her, "Of course not!"

"Good, just checking," she said.

He looked up at the ceiling, just staring at it, thinking about life back home.

Thinking about Kyle.

* * *

As Lori was getting herself a cup of coffee after the previous night, she heard the door opening. Alex came inside, "Oh good," she said, "I'll take one."

"Yeah, sure," Lori said, getting another glass down.

"So, did you end up going home with that guy?" she asked Lori.

"I did," Lori said, "Are you happy now that you know a little more about my sex life?" she questioned Alex.

"I am," she said, "So, are you going to see him again?"

"No," she said.

"You don't strike me as the one night stand type," Alex said.

"I'm not."

"Was it bad, then?" she asked.

Lori stopped pouring, surprised by the question, "No," she said, resuming pouring.

"Then what is it?" Alex asked.

She finished and pushed the glass to Alex, "His name."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"His name is Kyle," she said.

"So? I don't get it," she said.

"Kyle. My step-brother is named Kyle."

"So, it's weird for you?" Alex asked.

"I guess I never told you," Lori said.

"Told me what?" she asked.

Lori took a drink of her coffee, "Never mind," she said, not willing to tell it.

* * *

Jessi was standing in the hospital, watching as a woman gave birth. "Keep pushing," Jessi told her, alongside the nurse who was helping, "I see the head."

The woman was crying out as she pushed harder. The baby continued to come into the nurse's awaiting arms. Jessi was doing as she was told, helping the woman. She had given an epidural, for one. She was good at medicine, considering she had sped read whatever she had needed to and taken all of the information in immediately.

The people part was the hard one. She had been helping for around a year, trying to fill in for Kyle. Kyle had always tried to do the best for people, to help people. She was trying to take his place in that regard now that he was gone. She had thought this might be a good idea.

But her heart just wasn't in it. It had been at the start, but not anymore. Things had changed. This chance to become a better person wasn't paying off for her. She was able to help, yes, but she felt terrible on the inside.

She knew she was only doing this for Kyle, since he was gone. She wasn't doing this because she wanted to, but because of Kyle's absence. It wasn't a penance for her sins, for one.

She still felt her sins and their weight. She couldn't feel good while having that weight pushing down on her.

"It's a boy!" the new mother was told.

Jessi watched as she was given her child. She looked so happy about it. She had just been in pain, discomfort, but now it was pure joy at being able to hold her new son in her arms.

Jessi wished she could take pleasure in this, but she just couldn't.

Later, on lunch break, Jessi went home.

"Amanda called?" Jessi asked Nicole.

Nicole nodded, "She was asking about Kyle," she said, "I couldn't tell her anything."

Jessi nodded, "I imagine it must be very hard on her."

"It's hard on all of us," Nicole said.

Jessi nodded, "Of course it is." That went without saying to her.

"I talked to Lori earlier," Nicole said, "She asked about Declan."

Jessi remembered Latnok. She remembered Declan crawling towards her and grabbing her, giving her some strength in his arms. It was partially thanks to him that she was even alive right now.

She still felt something where she had been shot. A small mark. Only partially visible, partially different to the touch. But it was still there. It hadn't healed perfectly.

"What about him?" Jessi asked.

"If he's still here," Nicole said, "I don't think he can move on with his life."

"I haven't," Jessi commented.

"You're trying," Nicole said. "He just comes every so often. I don't think he's doing anything."

"Can you blame him?" she asked.

"No," Nicole said.

Jessi looked at the clock, "I need to go."

"Ok," Nicole said, "We'll see you when you get off, then."

Jessi nodded, "Yeah," she said, heading out. She still lived with the Tragers. She was the only one living there now with Stephen and Nicole with the kids at college, and Kyle missing. It was lonely, depressing.

"Kyle…," she whispered.

* * *

_Three hundred and sixty seven days. It has been just over one year since this all began, and from the first day until now, it has felt like an eternity._

Kyle sat alone in a living room of a house. He sat on a comfortable chair, looking out the windows to the back yard. There were trees and woods farther back, but the day was darker, overcast. It was going to rain soon, probably storm. The woods looked depressing, ominous almost with this lighting, with this atmosphere.

_I was offered a chance at godhood. I refused it, and now I am a prisoner of Latnok. But the security has finally become minimal. I can leave if I want, but I don't know if that's the right choice. Not at the moment._

Kyle stood up and looked at the corner of the wall, at the ceiling. There was a camera there, watching him as he moved. Latnok was still watching.

At the start there had been a small group of Latnok members living there, acting as security, making sure he stayed put. That had been another house, however. They had taken him away from Seattle and moved him around the country.

He was taken from town to town, shown the lives of people. Terrible lives, good lives. He saw life for what it really was. People needed help, and he had tried to help them, but Latnok had always stopped him.

He wasn't allowed to intervene.

"This is life," Grace had told him over a video message, "Look at it. Look at what happens in the world. There are those who live good lives, like you and the Tragers. And there are those who live bad lives. Those who are in need of help. The poor. The ill. Some of them won't survive until tomorrow. And will those who are well off help them? No. Will anybody help them? Some will try, but it's not going to be enough.

"People will die, because there are too few people trying to help."

"Then have your men leave and let me do something," Kyle told her.

"And do you think making a difference in this single town will do much? You'll help those you can find. And what of those you can't? Those you find too late? You'll be worthless to corpses."

"I can try!" he told her.

"No," she said, "Move to another town. Show him life."

And so they had been moved again. Constantly being moved, that was Kyle's life now. But security had lessened with time. He had no doubt he could get past most of them from the start, but he never knew how much force they would use, and how many they were.

Now he knew they were one, and that one barely paid him any attention. He knew that the cameras weren't going to do anything. They were watching from Seattle, he was sure.

"I'm going out," he told the Latnok guard.

"Fine," he answered.

"I'm going to make a difference."

The man didn't answer, nor seem to hear the statement. And if he did hear it, he thought nothing of it, even though he had been one of the men to previously torment Kyle on his inability to help everybody.

Not without the godhood that Latnok offered.

"If you had taken our offer, you could help them all," Grace had said.

"I don't believe that," Kyle said, "Your Latnok isn't the type of group that would let me just help people."

"Oh, aren't we?"

"There's a price, I'm sure of that," Kyle told her.

"Well, there would be a price on it," Grace said.

"And there's a problem right there," Kyle said, "Can't you see just how bad your Latnok is?"

"It's not," she said, "To you, maybe. But not to us."

Kyle walked through the town, looking around. He saw a man with a tattered blanket, trying to get warm. Kyle walked over to him, "Sir?"

The man paid him no attention. People didn't pay him any attention, so why should he pay any to people? Even if they might be trying to help him.

"Do you need help with anything?" Kyle asked, "Another blanket? A fire?"

The man said nothing.

Kyle crouched by him, "Sir?"

"Leave me alone," the man told him, glaring at Kyle, "What did you do that you're trying to make up for? I don't care what it is. Just go."

"I'm not trying to make up for anything," Kyle said, "I'm trying to help you."

"Nobody just helps people anymore," the man said, pulling it up tighter against him, still shivering.

"Please sir," Kyle said.

"No!" the man told him.

Kyle came to his full height and walked on. He couldn't help this man if he didn't want the help.

_Maybe Grace was right. Maybe not everyone can be helped. But that goes against my goals, what I need to do with my life. That man needs someone. Everybody needs someone. People need each other, they can't do everything alone._

_ I need to be the one to be there to help them. But if I can't help this single man, how can I help others?_

Kyle went back to the house that was his home. He walked inside and looked at the Latnok man there, "I'm not going to stay here anymore."

The man looked up from his paper, "Fine," he said, "I'm not stopping you from leaving. We've had our orders. You can go whenever you please."

Kyle nodded, "I'll leave, then."

"Good luck," he said half-heartedly, going back to his paper.

Kyle spent time packing, and then went out into town again. He walked the dreary streets, looking at the people. There weren't as many as usual, not with this rain coming. But he still saw people in need of help. He saw a man begging, so he stopped and dropped off as much money as he could.

"You should get somewhere dry," he told the man.

"Thank you," the man said, "You're very generous and kind. Not many people would care if I get soaked."

"I care," Kyle told him.

The man picked up his tin cup and moved along, going off to find somewhere to get out of the rain.

At least that man took his help.

* * *

[Start "Hold on Hope"]

Kyle walked along some more before heading back home. Or the home Latnok had given him in this town. It was almost time to go, and at least he had made a difference in one life.

_In this life, there are multiple paths that can be taken. There's the easier life, and the harsher life. We can't decide which life we have. We can be born into one, and that's primarily how things are decided. We can choose how we live our lives, but not much else._

_ We can expect our lives to go one way, and find them going another way completely. I saw my life going towards helping people, and now here I am. I've helped some people, but the world is open to me now. I see what I can and cannot do. I see what Latnok has done while I've been taken around. I see what they're willing to do._

_ And I see the difference I can make, with and without them._

_ I expected something much different, but I will make a difference in this life. There are too many people out there hurting for me not to._

_ Especially my family._

_ For them, my life will be the way I've always thought it would go. I'll be there for people, for everyone I possibly can. After all, the greatest category of people are those who are there for others._

* * *

"No, still no word about Kyle," Nicole told Lori, "Sorry."

"I didn't think so," Lori said, "Just…just to let you know, I'm still praying for him."

"I know he'd appreciate that," Nicole said, "He's in our prayers as well."

And soon, Josh was calling.

"It's been about a year," he said, "Anything at home? Any signs? Signals? Anything?"

"Nothing," Stephen told his son on the phone, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I," Josh said, "I'm not there anymore, but…I just miss him so much."

"We all do," Stephen said, "But we're holding onto hope."

"Hope," Josh said.

"Hope," Stephen answered, "We just have to be a little more patient."

"Patience can only go so far with me," Josh said.

"I know, but some more," Stephen said.

Those words were repeated by Nicole to Lori, "Patience. Patience and hope. We have to keep those."  
"Yeah, we do," Lori said, "But it's been a year."

"And so we'll wait another," Nicole said, "No matter what, we'll keep waiting, and hoping, and praying. Until Kyle comes back to us."

* * *

Kyle looked out at the town from the rooftop of the city hall, being the tallest building he could find.

"Goodbye," he told it, "Someday, I'll be back. And I'll help all of you."

[End "Hold on Hope"]


	2. Almost Home

Ok, so I managed to finish this one in any free time I had to give to writing. I might be able to get you guys a chapter every few days at this rate, though the quality may go down a little, since I'm used to writing elsewhere, not wherever I am.

Like last chapter, this one takes a different perspective, kind of. Last time it was all about the Tragers and minimally on Kyle. This is reversed this time. One more thing of note is that this is how I thought season 2 was going to go (or at least start) based on the first commercials. I'll explain more below.

* * *

2: Almost Home

_As I stand here and look over this location, this town, I know that my time here is at its end. Latnok showed me life in the world, and what I take away from it is that I must help others with my powers. I want to go home, and I want to help people._

_ I can help people here, but the draw of home is far too great. I must go back, and from there I can deal with Latnok, and then I can help people. Latnok stands in my way with their experimenting._

_ This isn't personal. This isn't revenge. This is the way things must be done._

* * *

Kyle looked out over the town in the early morning. He had chosen the high vantage point once again because it allowed him to see more. It was cold out today, so he wore his coat, pulling the collar up a little. He looked out one more time at the sleepy town, and then looked down, dropping off of the side.

Kyle landed in the street and started to walk away a moment later. And that was when he heard it.

"How did you do that?"

He stopped suddenly and turned around, seeing a woman standing there with a camera around her neck. The look on her face told him one thing.

She had seen it.

The way she held the camera told him one more.

She had pictures.

"How did you do that?" she asked him again, her voice a mix of awe and confusion.

_And that was when I made my biggest mistake. I had gotten careless, and somebody had seen me doing something amazing. Something beyond human capability. And now I had to deal with it, right when I was about to finally go home._

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kyle admitted.

She held up her camera, "I have pictures. I saw you falling, but you weren't falling. You were dropping. You weren't trying to kill yourself. And then you land and walk away," she said, "I took pictures of it! How did you do that?" She looked up, "It's so tall!"

"I…," Kyle didn't know what to say.

She looked at him, "How?"

Kyle looked at her for a few moments, "It's better that you didn't know," he told her, walking away.

"I've seen you around town before!" she called after him, "So have others! I have the pictures! I'm going to figure out who you are, and I'm going to put these pictures up all over! I'm a reporter!"

He slowed and stopped. He turned back to her, "You wouldn't…"

"I would," she told him, "This is my job after all. Now, tell me about what happened, and maybe I won't print these pictures for everyone to see. I imagine you wouldn't want everyone to know what you can do. Am I right?"

"Please," Kyle said, "I just need to go home. This can't get out of hand."

"Then just answer my questions for me, and I won't let it get out of hand," she said.

"And when you have the information, then what? You print a fuller news story about me? About what you saw?" he questioned her.

"You think I would do that?" she asked, "Well…I'll give you that it sounds like that. But no. This is amazing, and I want to know more. Simple as that."

"Is that the truth?" Kyle questioned.

"It is," she said.

"Not here," he said, walking off.

She followed him, "I'm Jennifer," she told him.

"Kyle," he said simply, leading Jennifer on.

* * *

Jennifer was in her mid to late twenties, a young woman with long brown hair and a businesslike appearance about her.

As Kyle and Jennifer walked down the street in the morning, he was able to speak freely to her – well, almost freely – in that there were no people around. He didn't want to reveal his secrets, or things like Latnok or the Tragers, but he'd reveal some things.

"So, how is it you can do these things?" Jennifer asked.

"My brain is more developed than a normal person's," Kyle told her, "I can focus my body into doing things that normal people can't. That's the simple way of putting it."

"And what's the not-simple way?" she asked him.

He was going to try to find a way not to explain it, when three people started coming down the street towards them. He stopped then, thankful for the distraction, though he wouldn't be in a moment.

Two of the men moved towards Jennifer while one kept himself between her and Kyle. Kyle eyed them, feeling that something was wrong, and that he'd probably have to intervene.

"So, you going to back down yet?" one man questioned Jennifer.

"No," she told him, "I won't."

The other grabbed her camera, "You got anything on here?" he questioned, about to throw it at the ground.

"Who are you people?" Kyle questioned, moving past the one next to him and snatching the camera away. He could have let it get smashed, lose the pictures of him, but there was something wrong here, and he thought doing something would be best.

"Oh, is this someone here to protect you?" the first man questioned Jennifer, turning to Kyle.

"I'm her friend," Kyle said simply.

"Then as a friend, talk her out of doing something stupid," the man told Kyle.

"And what would that be?" Kyle questioned.

"That's not for you to know," he told Kyle.

"Maybe I should know," Kyle said.

"Not going to happen," the second man said, "Keep talking if you want to taste concrete."

Kyle looked at him in such a way that it provoked the man to throw a punch. Kyle wasn't quite sure how it set him off, but it had. He drew his hand up, catching the fist easily and holding it there, bending his arm down.

"Wow…," the third one muttered, backing away, not about to be muscle for the first man if Kyle could stop that.

The man couldn't tear his fist free. He looked at Kyle, using all of the strength he could, but couldn't break Kyle's grip. He threw a punch with his other hand, but Kyle moved aside, causing him to punch the wall with the twisting motion of Kyle's step.

"That hurt you bastard!" the man shouted, pain filling his voice, "Ah damn it! I think I broke it!"

Kyle released his fist and looked at Jennifer, "Let's go," he said, passing her the camera.

She stood in awe and took it back, "Ok…"

The two of them moved past the three men, heading down the street.

"Why did you do that for me?" she questioned him quietly.

"You looked like you needed help," he said, "I helped."

"But…," she looked at the camera.

"Even with that," he said.

"You're a good man, Kyle," she said.

"I try to be," he said simply, looking on ahead.

* * *

"What was going on with those men?" Kyle asked Jennifer.

Jennifer walked into the park that the two had come by. She walked into the grass, looking around at the park bench, the shrubbery, the play equipment for the children. Kyle walked over behind her, looking at all of it as well.

"Those men are part of this town's problem," Jennifer told Kyle.

"This town's problem?" he asked.

She looked at him, "How long have you lived here?"

"A while," he said.

"Not long enough," she said, turning to face him completely, "Those three men are the primary source of drugs in this town. It's only the three of them, but a lot of people want the drugs. Even police. Any evidence gathered is destroyed by corrupt cops. They can't be prosecuted. I swore that I would deal with them, but like I said, the police are mostly corrupt and using their products. So, they bring the only shipments of drugs into this town, and the people are happy."

"But drugs are bad," Kyle said.

"You sound like a commercial or something teaching right and wrong," Jennifer said, "I used to use myself…it's not bad. It can be good. It can take the edge off of life, it can make things easier."

"But there's something else," Kyle said.

"It destroys lives," she said, "I…I have a daughter. Or had, maybe. I lost her because of my drug habits. She was moved into foster care and she's out of state. I haven't seen her in years because of the drug problem I developed."

"Is that why you want to expose those three and stop them?" Kyle asked.

"For Lucy's sake," she said.

_This woman had made mistakes in her life, and she was essentially holding me hostage. But she was a good person, doing things for possibly the right reasons, if I was reading into this situation correctly. It was worth an ask._

"Is the reason you took those pictures of me for the sake of gaining my help?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No. News. I can see how you'd think that, though," she said.

"What if I helped you?" he asked.

"Helped me? Stop the drugs?" she asked

He nodded, "What if I got those three to stop? Or to face justice?" he asked.

"Good luck with that," she said.

"But what if I can?" he asked.

"I'd be grateful," she said, "Truly. But even if you manage it, you're not buying these pictures and this developing story away from me."

"I'm not trying to," he said, "I'm only trying to help you. A good woman who needs help from someone willing to join her in her crusade. Will you let me help you?"

Jennifer looked Kyle over ,"You're being sincere. Serious."

"I am," he confirmed.

She nodded, "Ok. I'll let you help me. I'll tell you what I can."

* * *

Kyle walked up the grass driveway. The house was off by a lake, but not many people were around at this time of year. It was colder out, so they weren't living here. These were more of cabins or summer homes. But this white house he approached was supposed to be where the three lived and where they kept their drugs.

Kyle looked at the houses next door, but the curtains on each window of both houses were drawn. Nobody was at either. He hurried around to the back of the house of the three men, walking up onto their deck. He looked back, down a slight hill and to the beach, the lake. It was nice here. The town was nice.

But it wasn't home.

He moved over to the back door and looked inside where a curtain was slightly curved, providing him some vision. He couldn't see much other than furniture and the like. No signs of the drugs or anything incriminating.

_I wasn't quite sure as of yet what my move would be. I needed to get inside, even if it would be illegal, and I needed to get as much evidence as I could. Jennifer said she knew of a lawyer and judge in town who weren't corrupt or using the drugs, so they would be the ones to help her with the case she was going to make._

Kyle reached for the door, giving a short tug. It was locked. But it was a sliding door, so he could easily get through it, if he wanted to. But breaking through wasn't his goal or intention. No. He looked at the lock that it had. It was small, but would be easy enough to get through.

As he was about to do something, he could hear something in the front of the house. It was the wheels of a car coming up the driveway, snapping some sticks that lay in its path. Kyle froze for a few moments and listened.

He could hear the voices of the three men from earlier, mostly the angry comments of the one whom had punched the wall. Kyle looked back at the lake, and then at the doors. He needed to get the evidence, so he couldn't go.

But maybe this would work out better for him.

He headed down towards the lake. There was another building there. A boathouse it looked like. It had a padlock with a dial on it, so he took grip of it and closed his eyes to focus as he twisted the dial.

In a few moments he had it unlocked. He slipped inside and closed the door, though a close look would show that the lock was undone, and just made to look at least somewhat like it was locked again, when it wasn't.

Kyle waited in the darkness, focusing. He had once passed out from listening to something from a far distance away, and it had done damage, but no longer. He had learned since then.

Adam Baylin had taught him.

He could hear the three men entering the house and moving around. He heard another door open, and then footfalls as the three men went down a set of stairs.

Kyle emerged after a few minutes of listening to them in their basement. That must be where the drugs were.

Kyle made his way up to the house again and moved around to the front, checking in the windows as he moved. Nobody. He moved around to the front door and slowly opened it, walking inside and looking at the small entryway he had entered into.

He moved into the main house, into a kitchen and dining room. He looked around, but the only doors he saw were open. A closet, a bathroom, and as he moved towards the sitting room that he had seen into earlier, from the back, a few bedrooms.

He moved into the first bedroom and saw another door in the back. He focused his hearing and listened. They were still in the basement, that was for sure. He moved closer to the door and opened it slightly.

Stairs.

Now what?

* * *

It had been hours since Kyle had entered. The three men had never come back upstairs in that time, but finally, their footsteps could be heard coming.

When they came into the bedroom, Kyle wasn't in sight. He wasn't in the open anywhere as the men dispersed through the house to do what they were going to do.

Kyle was lying under the bed in the room that had the stairs. Once he was sure they were gone and distracted by their own devices, he crawled out and moved to the door, slowly, quietly turning the knob and opening the door. He slipped through, closing the door behind him.

Blinking a few times, the darkness proved to be nothing. He walked down the stairs, now able to see. His steps were silent as he slowly tested each stair before taking the step.

As he reached the last one, he put the gentle weight on it, and then his full weight. But that was a mistake. It sent out a sound upon his step, forcing him to move.

He could hear the door above him opening swiftly. But by the time the three men came downstairs, arguing over if one of them was hearing things or if something was wrong, Kyle wasn't there.

He had moved around the corner and had leapt up, into the open ceiling tile. A few tiles were moved here and there to get at wiring and pipes, and of course nothing that held the tile would support the weight of a man. But he was gripping a pipe and slowly moving away from view, in case someone would see him from the missing spot in the ceiling.

"There's nobody here," one of the men said.

"I heard something!" one shouted. Kyle knew that was the one whom had hurt his hand.

"No there's not," the other man said, "You're hearing things."

And with that some more bickering began. But the three men shut the light off and moved back upstairs, arguing on the way up.

Kyle slid back out and looked around. Once more his vision was working for him. He could see in the dark perfectly, something that he had been taught by Adam Baylin and Tom Foss.

As he slowly walked around he took notice of where items lay, just in case. He saw some knives and two guns as he made his way around. Those would be things he needed to keep in memory, in case something went wrong and he was discovered. Then he'd know where they hid their weapons. Or at least some of them.

He wasn't looking to get himself shot.

As he moved over to a table he saw baggies of a green substance. He lifted one up and looked at it more closely, recognizing it as the drugs. He set it down and looked at everything there was down here.

And then he took out his phone and made a phone call regarding a break in.

"I think somebody is in my house," Kyle said, "Can you please hurry? It sounds like someone is in the basement! We store some hunting weapons down there. We don't want to go looking, we're scared."

He gave the address and hang up. He thought this was the best way. Getting as many officers here as he could, getting them to come to the basement to make sure things were fine, and then they would see everything. In plain sight.

And then he headed back up the stairs slowly, avoiding the lowest stair. He listened outside, but he was fine. He walked out of the door and moved to the closest window, opening it and stepping outside. He closed it and ran the other way, towards the group of empty houses, intent on getting away before the police showed up, and then looping back around to make sure things were dealt with.

* * *

Kyle stood with a crowd of people that had been gathering. The police were there in a large force, taking the three men out and pulling out the weapons and drugs that had been in the basement. It seemed like what Kyle had done worked.

"It won't stick," Jennifer said as she finally found Kyle among the people.

"It should," he said.

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so. Someone will still get them off."

He shook his head, "With that many officers someone will do something," he said.

"You're optimistic."

"I got it this far, didn't I?" he asked, "Someone will start asking questions after seeing all of this if there are no charges. Something is going to stick."

"We'll see," she said.

"Did you talk to your judge and lawyer friends?" he asked her.

"I did," she said, "They would deal with it if something happened. I'm hoping they don't think I caused this."

"Well, you can deny it all away," he said.

She nodded, "I'm going to have to."

"You don't know what happened today," Kyle said, "So it'll be fine for you."

"I want to know how you did it, even though I'm better off not knowing," she said.

He shook his head, "Sorry, but you are indeed better off not knowing things. I'd tell you, but you're best off without that information, and without my full identity."

She nodded and held up an SD card, "Your pictures are on here."

He looked at it and nodded.

She dropped it and smashed it with her foot, "This is promising."

"Thank you for destroying it," Kyle said.

She nodded, "I have something better now. Come on home with me today, I'll make you something good to eat as a thank you, aside from that," she gestured at the pieces of SD card. She turned and started on.

Kyle followed after her, not wanting to impose, but he didn't want to appear rude after she had invited him.

* * *

That night Jennifer and Kyle sat in her kitchen. Kyle looked around when he had the chance, finding the room to be rather lacking it items. He saw into a cupboard, seeing few items. It would seem as though Jennifer rarely had guests.

"I'm alone a lot," she said, as if realizing he was looking around. She sat down at the table and looked across to him, "It's very rare that people want to dine with me."

"Why would that be?" Kyle asked.

"Most people think I might try to pry into them," she said.

"Being a reporter?" Kyle asked.

"Being a reporter," she confirmed.

"I don't think that," Kyle said.

"I already destroyed the things on you," she said.

"Even with that, I don't think so," he told her.

She smiled a little, "Thanks."

As the two went on with their dinner in the quiet, Kyle's senses perked up. He looked around suddenly.

"What is it?" she asked with a mix of confusion and worry.

"Fire," he said.

No sooner than he had said it was the smell of smoke very noticeable in the room. The heat was coming through as well. They could hear the flames around them in the other rooms, making their way through the house.

"Jennifer?" Kyle asked, looking at where she had been sitting. He was going to take her and go, but she was gone. "Jennifer?" he shouted.

He looked around and ran through the flames into the next room. He ran for the staircase, but a beam was falling. He leapt the flaming hunk of wood as it fell to impede his path, landing on the staircase halfway up and continuing to run, following his senses in his pursuit of the woman.

"Jennifer?" Kyle shouted, looking around through the few burning rooms on the upper floor of the house. He pushed open each door, losing his senses among the smoke and flames, especially among how desperate the search was. He had to find her, now.

He found her in the last room on the right. He hurried in, "Jennifer!"

She was at a desk, opening it and pulling things out. She hugged them to herself as she pulled more and more out, not paying Kyle any heed.

"Jennifer!" he shouted, hurrying over, through the flames that were almost barring the path.

"I need these!" she shouted at him over the roar of the flames.

He saw them. Pictures. Pictures of a baby. A baby and a younger Jennifer.

"Lucy?" he asked. She nodded to him as she kept pulling out pictures and other objects that reminded her of her child.

_I couldn't let Jennifer die here. I could tell that the heat and the smoke were getting to her, but she was doing everything for her daughter. Would it be wrong of me to pull her out, and let those objects that represented her memories burn and be destroyed?_

_ Yes._

_ But what if taking this time meant her death? That wasn't an option._

Kyle looked at the window next to them. He closed his eyes and focused on one of the rooms down the hall. It took great amounts of concentration and manipulation, but he finally was gaining enough moisture from the air outside against the window.

And it finally cracked from Kyle's mind. The single crack gave way to a spiderweb of cracks, and then the glass exploded outwards, creating a vent for the flames. The flames raced through that window and outside, where there was copious amounts of air to feed the flames.

"Jennifer, stay behind me!" Kyle told her, grabbing the desk. With all of his might he threw it through the window before them, letting it smash into the ground below, but at least everything that she hadn't grabbed was going to be safer out there. He circled his arms around her, "Hold on to me!"

She looked past him, to the doorway. Flames were rushing in.

He stepped up onto the windowsill and jumped with her as flames smashed into his back, lighting his shirt on fire. He landed with her, taking the full impact into himself. He let her go as he tore his shirt off and threw it back into the burning house, his skin unmarred by the flames.

"You…you saved me again," she said, "And…you're not burnt?" Her eyes drifted to his missing bellybutton, but she said nothing. He caught her glance, and gave nothing in return.

He shook his head and hurried to her, helping her gather the remaining items from the desk, "Let's hurry," he told her, "We should get away from here."

She nodded, running away from the burning house with Kyle.

* * *

"It was one of the people who bought drugs from those guys," she said softly as they watched the fire department put out her destroyed house, "Someone who's really pissed at me. It's no secret I've been trying to get them for some time…"

"I'll find who did it," Kyle told her, "I'll make sure the police get them too."

She shook her head, "No…it's ok."

"It's not ok!" he told her, shocked by her saying that, "They burned down your house! They tried to kill you!"

She looked at Kyle, "That's not ok. What's ok is what you said. I'll find them. I'll bring them forward and see to it that they face the law for what they did," she looked at her destroyed house, "I saved Lucy's memories, thanks to you."

"You saved her pictures," Kyle said simply, "Her memories are with you."

She looked to Kyle, "They aren't."

"What?" he questioned, confused.

"Because of all of the drugs I not only lost Lucy, but…I have such a hard time even remembering my time with her," she confided softly, clearly on the verge of tears, "Kyle…these pictures really are all I have of her."

"I'm so sorry," he said softly, "I didn't know."

She shook her head, "That's one reason I fought so hard. They destroyed my memories of my child. I'm the one who took the drugs, but…"

"I understand," Kyle told her, "Trust me. I understand."

She looked at him, "Thank you for everything."

"It's no trouble," he said, "I live to help people."

"Then go to your family," she said softly, "Go and see them. You have family, right?"

"Not a family like me."

"But a family?"

"A normal family," he said.

She smiled, "Go to them. Don't worry about me."

"You're what kept me here," he confided, "I was going to leave today, but you postponed that."

[Start "Hold on Hope"]

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," he told her, "I was able to help," he smiled.

"How long have you been away? You said you've been in this town a while," she said.

"I've been away from home for a year," he said.

"Then you really should go. Now," she said, looking at the pictures in her hands, "Go. I'll use what I have and make sure this town is better. You should go to your family."

He nodded, "I won't forget you."

"I won't forget you either. You're kind of a superman," she said.

He shook his head, "I'm only Kyle."

"Well Kyle, that's how I'll remember you."

_I've been away from home for a little over a year. I didn't want the Trager family to worry about me as we went to Latnok, but I'm afraid of how much worry I put them through with what happened there. I just hope they won't be too angry, and that they'll forgive me for what happened._

_ But I'll be home soon. Home is where everything can be made better. For Jennifer, home will be where she has her pictures and memories of her daughter. Maybe not that house, but anywhere she can remember the thing that makes her who she is._

_ Stephen. Nicole. Lori. Josh. Jessi. Declan._

_ Amanda._

_ I'm sorry for everything. But I'll be home soon._

_ I love all of you._

_ I'm coming. And I'm going to do my best to make everything up to all of you._

[End "Hold on Hope"]

* * *

"It's too bad," Grace mused.

She sat at the Latnok table, each space filled by a nearly nameless, faceless individual of the organization. She of course knew each of them and who they were, what they were here for. Someone looking on or looking in would have no idea of them.

They were nameless, faceless, replaceable people to anyone else who didn't know. Sitting there, just sitting there watching, talking.

"Too bad about my son," Grace said to fill the silence.

The group of them watched on a monitor as Kyle left town. Latnok had taken its time with their experiment with Kyle, and his one year long abduction. There were cameras wherever they needed them. They had mostly lost sight of the boy for the entire day, but finally they had a visual on him.

He was leaving town, walking off towards Seattle. He was going home.

One of the Latnok members at the table typed into the keyboard sitting before him, looking at his computer screen. He looked to Grace, saying cold words.

"He's already infected."

* * *

What I meant by this is how I thought it would start is this. I was under the assumption for some reason that season 2 would have Kyle after being with Baylin and trying to go home to the Tragers (or remain with Baylin) and a news reporter or someone sees him using his abilities and causing him trouble like this. It's an idea that always stuck with me, and one I'm glad I could finally use.


	3. As the Clock Ticks

Ok, here's the next chapter. I'm making some pretty good progress in this, and you'll get at least the next chapter out of this method I'm currently using. This one is more about exposition than anything, I think, but enjoy:

* * *

3: As the Clock Ticks

_Morning. A time of solitude, a time of peace. At this time in the year it was getting lighter out earlier. Already people were adjusting their schedules, out in the cool morning jogging, or going to work in the light instead of the dark._

_ But as I descended upon the home of the Tragers – my home – I noticed that nothing had changed._

Kyle walked up the short set of steps and tried the door. Of course, it was locked. He considered ringing the doorbell, but decided against it. Instead he went around the side of the house, looking into his old room, seeing the bathtub sitting where it always had, as his bed.

Jessi was in it, sleeping.

He moved to another window and knocked on it. He could probably use his connection with Jessi to call her that way, but he didn't want to screw up with that. It had been so long that he feared he might make a mistake and not get it to work.

After a few more knocks on the glass she finally started to stir. She looked over, seeing him standing there, waving a little. She leapt out of the tub and hurried over, undoing the lock and throwing the window open when he stepped aside.

"Kyle?" she asked in astonishment.

"Yeah," he smiled, "It's me. I'm home."  
She threw her arms around him and pulled him over the windowsill to her. He returned her embrace with the same level of strength, the same firmness.

But then she kissed him, something he didn't return. He didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't something he had been thinking much about. Family was something, yes. His loved ones. But not Amanda nor Jessi, nor the situation with them. He had thought of it sometimes, but didn't know what to do now.

When she stopped kissing him and allowed him to speak, all he could think of was, "Your reactions aren't as good as they used to be."

"What are you talking about?" she questioned, pulling her arms to her sides.

"It took me too many knocks to get your attention," he told her, "The Jessi I know would have been up. Probably with some plan in her head about how to subdue a potential threat."

"Oh, I have a way of subduing you," she smiled.

"Well, you already opened the window for me," he told her.

"Yeah," she said, smiling, "Come on. This is your room, after all."

He climbed through the window, letting Jessi close it when he was inside. She turned to him, "Where have you been? What happened?"

He looked back at her, "First tell me one thing. Is everyone ok? I didn't know what happened."

"I got shot, Declan got beaten pretty badly," she said, "But we're both fine. Latnok hasn't gone after your family, as far as I know."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"Josh and Lori are at college, not here," she said, "And Amanda's gone too. So I don't know about them. But Josh and Lori's calls seem to indicate that they're fine."

"We'll have to talk about that later," Kyle said.

"Yeah. Now. What happened to you?" she questioned.

"I think that's something we should all know," Stephen said, coming in from the door that connected to the house. He was clearly tired, having just gotten up at the sounds Jessi and Kyle had been making. However, he had clear joy on his face at seeing Kyle back. Kyle could see Nicole coming behind her husband.

"Stephen, Nicole…," Kyle said softly.

He smiled and hurried to them. He threw his arms around the man he considered to be a father him, getting his embrace returned.

"It's good to have you back, kid," Stephen said, echoing and reversing what he had said to Kyle when his 'parents' had come to take him back, around four years ago now.

Nicole almost looked like she was going to cry tears of joy. She simply threw her arms around Kyle, "Don't scare us like that again," she said, her voice shaking a little with her emotion.

"I'll try not to," he said softly, hugging her more tightly.

As he stepped back, he looked between all three of them, "I'll tell you all what happened to me. Don't worry. I won't hide anything. You'll get the truth of the matter. All of it."

* * *

"Latnok abducted you?" Jessi asked, "You couldn't fight back?"

"No," he said, "I couldn't really do anything about it. But…I'm kind of thankful to them in a way."

"Are you serious?" Jessi questioned him angrily, "After everything, you can be thankful to Latnok? They shot me! They almost killed Declan!"

"I know, but it's not the same," Kyle said, "I understand how you can be angry with me, but…I saw things I might not have otherwise seen. I have a new perspective on things. But even if I have some level of thanks to Latnok, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to stop them."

"Good," Jessi said, "Because they are going down."

He nodded, "There's nothing that will stop me from bringing Latnok down," Kyle assured her.

"Just be careful," Nicole told Kyle, "We already lost you once. We don't want to lose you again."

"You're the family that found me," Kyle said, "You're not going to lose me again. Trust me."

"You were gone for a whole year," Stephen said, "And we're thankful that you're back, but it's hard not to worry."

"I understand," Kyle said, "I would feel the same way if I were you two."

"Not just us," Nicole said, "The kids too."

He nodded, "I should probably call them."

"We'll tell them," Stephen said, "They usually call almost every day. Mostly hoping for updates."

"It'll be good to give them one," Nicole said.

Kyle nodded, "I can't wait to talk to them again."

"I'm sure they can't either," Nicole told him.

As Kyle sat with them at the dining room table, he felt something wrong with his body. A pain in his stomach, a feeling of nausea coming over him.

Kyle pushed his chair back, "I'll be back," he assured them, thinking as fast as he could. He had read medical books when he was helping Nicole recover after the car accident, "I have something I need to deal with."

"Just come back this time," Nicole said.

He smiled weakly, "Of course I will."

He left the table, his mind drawing a complete blank.

* * *

At Madacorp Kyle hurried through the front entrance, "Where's Emily Hollander?" Kyle questioned immediately at the front desk, "I need to see her!"

"Who are you?" the man at the desk questioned.

"Kyle Trager," he told the man, "I need to see her right away!"

He checked his book, "There's no appointment for you with her."

"I don't need an appointment. She and I have an arrangement," Kyle said. "You're new, aren't you?" he asked after a moment.

"I am," he said, noticing some of the haste in Kyle's words. Kyle was worried, and his worry was worrying the man at the desk. He didn't know if Kyle might do something drastic, or might do something he wasn't ready for.

"Call Emily," Kyle said, "Call her and she'll vouch for who I am."

"She'll have my job," the man said, "She doesn't want to be called while she's in a meeting."

"If I don't see her, I might lose a lot more," Kyle told the man, "Please!"

The man refused to do anything. Kyle knew the facility well enough, so he hurried around the desk and ran for the staircase.

"You can't do that!" the man shouted, hitting a button to call for security.

Kyle hurried onwards, stopping at a set of double doors. He could see through the glass that there were many people seated around the table, and Emily was speaking with them. He walked up to the window, looking in.

He knew security was coming, but he knew it wouldn't be a problem. As Emily continued speaking to these people, she finally saw Kyle standing there.

She excused herself and hurried to the door, opening it and stepping out, "Kyle?" she questioned in shock.

"I can explain things later," Kyle said, "Right now I need your help. I think you're the only one who can do anything for me."

* * *

"What do you mean you're transferring?" Drew questioned Josh, shaking his head, "No! I'm putting my foot down! You're not going to transfer!"

"I am going to," Josh told his friend, "Sorry, but I've got to go somewhere else."

"Why?" Drew questioned him.

"There are just…"

"Just what?"

"Too many memories here," Josh said.

"Then go find a new dorm," Drew said, "You don't have to leave the college!"

"Sorry, but this is what I have to do," Josh said, "Even if I'm somewhere else, the memories will still be here."

"And if you go to another school, they'll still be here as well."

"Yeah, but I'll be there, not here," Josh said, "See?"

"What 'memories' are a problem for you?" Drew questioned.

"That my friend is my information alone," Josh said.

"We're friends," Drew told him.

"And even as friends, I can't tell you that," Josh told him, putting some more clothes into his suitcase, "I'm sorry."

"Is this about Andy?" Drew questioned, "I mean, it's not like it's a secret anymore. She's gladly been going around telling people she hates you, and that nobody should even talk to you."

"Good," he said, "Then when I leave nobody is going to miss me, if they believe her," he said, "And win-win. They might think she's crazy."

"I thought you told me that you love her," Drew said, "What ever happened to that?"

Josh didn't say anything. He just closed his suitcase, snapped it closed, and looked at Drew, "You've been a good friend." And that was all he had left to say.

* * *

Lori left her apartment building and started down the street with a cup of coffee in hand. As she was looking at her purse, trying to get her keys into it, she ran into someone who must not have been paying attention either, causing her drink to get splattered all over her body.

"Oh come on!" Lori complained, "Hey!"

She stopped when she realized she knew this person. At the same time she had spoken the other woman spoke as well.

"I am so sorry! I'll…" She also stopped at the same time, realizing it as well.

"Amanda?" Lori asked, a look of surprise on her face.

"Oh, Lori?" Amanda asked, "You're in New York too?"

"For college, yeah," Lori said.

Amanda nodded, "The same…"

It took a moment for the surprise to wear off, "Come on, let me help you with that," Amanda said.

Lori was finding her keys again, "Yeah, I'll go and change."

"Were you going somewhere?" Amanda asked.

"I go to the park sometimes," she said, "There's usually at least one person playing an instrument, and I like to watch and listen."

"I know what you mean. The one two blocks down?" she asked, pointing in the direction she had just come from.

Lori nodded, "That one," she said.

"I do that too," Amanda said, "Though piano is different from guitar, but still. The soul of the musician is still there, regardless of if the instrument relates to mine."

Lori nodded, "What are you going to college for exactly?"

"Not music," Amanda said as she and Lori went through the building, "I'm here on a music scholarship, though. But I'm here for…," she shook her head, "If I have to admit it, I don't know what I'm here for."

"You'll figure something out," Lori told her.

"I take it you're here for music?" Amanda asked.

She nodded, "Not sure how well that's going for me, but yeah, that's it," she said, getting to her apartment and working on her door. She went inside with Amanda, who waited in the main room as Lori went to change.

"It's not going well?" Amanda asked.

"Kind of," Lori said, "It's complicated."

"Well, we can talk about it, if you want," Amanda offered.

"Almost sounds like you should do psychology," Lori said from the other room.

"It's just a simple offer," Amanda replied.

"I know, but I'm just thinking of my mother," Lori said, but that wasn't all. Psychology was possibly something she could see herself doing, but not now. Not at this point in her lifetime.

Amanda looked around a little, seeing a picture of the Trager family on Lori's table. She walked over to it and picked it up gently, looking at it as Lori came back out.

"How's Kyle?" Amanda asked softly, setting it down and turning back to her.

"I…I don't know," Lori said, "Still missing."

Amanda nodded sadly and didn't say anything more.

Lori walked over to her and put an arm around her, "Come on, let's go to the park, if you don't have plans."

"Ok," she said, heading out with Lori.

* * *

As Emily scanned Kyle, he was suspecting the worst. It was no disease he knew about. His symptoms didn't match anything he had read about, and it didn't make sense that he would be infected with a multitude of illnesses that would create this combination.

No, it had to be something else. He was sure that Emily and Madacorp would be able to provide some sort of answer to him.

"Ok, it's done," Emily told Kyle, operating a computer while Kyle stood by a scanner, almost like an x-ray machine. It had circled him and scanned his body completely earlier, giving Emily information.

"Did you find anything?" Kyle asked.

She nodded, "Take a look."

He moved over and looked at the screen, looking at the scan of his body. They could see something discolored in parts of his body, mostly in the lower torso. Some tendrils had moved up higher.

"What is this?" he questioned.

"I don't know," she said, hitting a few keys, "Best guess I can give you is that it's a virus."

"It's no illness I know of," he said, "What are these, cells?"

"Not that sort of virus," Emily said, "Literally, I mean a computer virus."

"A computer virus?" Kyle questioned.

"Think of yourself as a computer," she said, bringing up a larger image of the scan, "Now, think of the colored portions as a virus. It's working its way through your systems. It's causing you various levels of discomfort, working its way up your body. It's a very slow rate, but as you can see, the scan took five minutes, and it moved. Very slightly. But it moved."

'Move' was a generous term for it, but there was a slight increase in the discolored portion. Without the projection being enlarged and zoomed in on, it would have been next to impossible to see any change.

"And it's going up," Kyle said.

Emily nodded, "Any ideas on it?" she asked.

"Latnok," Kyle said, "They're the only ones who could create something like this."

Emily nodded, "My thoughts exactly," she told him, "What do you think the reason is?"

Kyle stared at the screen, at the scan results. He kept staring as he spoke.

"They're terminating me."

* * *

Kyle returned home, immediately going to his room, hoping Jessi might be there. She wasn't. He headed back into the house and went upstairs, "Jessi?" he called.

"You're looking for Jessi?" Nicole asked as she exited her bedroom.

Kyle nodded, "Is she here?" he asked hastily, "It's important."

"She left about half an hour ago. She has work."

"Work?" he asked.

She nodded, "At the local hospital. What's wrong?" Nicole asked him.

"It…it can wait," Kyle said.

Five months. That's what Emily had figured. If they were terminating Kyle, did that mean Jessi was also a target? He had to find out if they had infected her somehow, or if he might have even infected her by coming in contact.

But of one thing he was certain as he looked at Nicole. If this was like a disease, and would be passed between people, only he and Jessi were able to be infected. He knew Stephen and Nicole would be safe, along with Emily and anybody else he came into contact with.

As Kyle went back downstairs he took out his cellphone and typed in a number. He lifted the phone up as it rang, being picked up quickly.

"Kyle? Is that really you?" Declan's voice asked with haste, with a mix of excitement and urgency.

"Yeah, it's me," Kyle told him, "I'll explain things. We should meet. Are you in Seattle?"

"I haven't left," Declan said, "Where do you want to meet?"

"The woods," Kyle said, "Where I first woke up."

* * *

As Josh was pulling his suitcase along through the halls of the dorm, he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw Andy there.

"Good, you're gone," she said.

"You know what Andy? I'm glad we're done!" Josh shouted at her , "I mean, the sex was great and all, but damn it! You're a terrible human being!"

"So are you!" she shouted, "Oh? And it wasn't that good!"

There were people coming out of dorms to yell at the two of them because of their shouting. But they ignored it for the most part. Josh picked up his suitcase again and started going.

"I won't miss you!" Andy shouted.

Josh didn't return anything. He knew that would do more than responding in any way, and that made him happy.

But it hurt him yet. What caused all of this to happen? They had been so good together, and now? Now they were shouting at each other, arguing, hating each other.

He guessed that's what relationships did.

Even if they might love each other.

* * *

Kyle stood at that familiar sight not too much later, looking around. He still remembered that day, waking up confused and alone, wandering into town and being taken in by the police to the facility where he met Nicole.

This is truly where his life began, not at Zzyzx, not in his tube. Here.

"Kyle!" Declan called, clad in black clothing. He hurried when he saw his friend, throwing his arms around Kyle in an embrace. Kyle returned it, "It's so good to see you again!"

"You too," Kyle smiled, returning the hug.

Declan drew himself back, "Kyle…what happened man? I mean, you've been gone for a year!"

"I got to Grace, Cassidy and Olivia, and they offered me godhood," Kyle said, "I refused them, and Latnok took me away. Grace wanted me to see the world, see what I could do for the people if I allowed myself to become a god."

"And what did you see?" Declan asked.

"People living good lives. People struggling. I saw all sorts of life."

"And?"

"And I know that for their lives to continue, or to improve, it's not for me to play god," Kyle said, "Or to become a god."

Declan nodded, "I'm glad you say that."

"…Jessi told me that you nearly died," Kyle said.

Declan nodded slowly, "Yeah…she got shot, and then the guards started to beat me…," his hand was trembling, as usual, "I…I don't know what I can do for you anymore, Kyle. I just don't."

"A year is a long time," Kyle said, "Have you reconsidered your place as my guardian?"

"Almost," Declan said, "But only because of my hand."

Kyle looked at it, seeing the trembling. He looked at Declan, "That doesn't mean anything."

"It means I can't properly protect you!" Declan told him, "If I had to shoot someone? God forbid I ever have to do that," he said, "But I wouldn't be able to!" He thrust his arm out, showing his shaking hand even more, "I can't!"

"I don't think you could kill someone anyway," Kyle said, "You're a good man."

"And I've found God," Declan said, "I can't kill. I…I turned to religion when you disappeared, and…and now I'm at a crossroads…"

Kyle put his hand on Declan's shoulder, "Declan, listen to me. You're my friend, my guardian. We're friends, allies. I don't care if you're my guardian, as long as you're here, and my friend. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. We'll get by."

"I promised Foss. I made him train me…," Declan muttered.

"I know," Kyle said, "And he's gone now too. But I don't need a guardian. Everything is going to be coming to an end soon."

"What do you mean by that?" Declan questioned Kyle.

_I considered telling Declan about the virus. He was one of my closest friends, my confidante. But I couldn't divulge this information to him. I didn't want him to worry about me. But whether I would die first, or manage to stop Latnok before that happened, it would soon be all over._

"I mean that we're going to stop Latnok soon," Kyle said, "We will."

"You're confident," Declan said.

"I have no reason not to be," Kyle replied.

"You learned things?" Declan asked.

"I had a lot of time to think," Kyle replied, "Trust me. I think we can stop them, and soon."

"Are you sure?" Declan asked, "Is this going to finally be over?"

Kyle nodded, "I can only pray so," Kyle said.

Declan smiled a little at that comment. It took Kyle a moment to realize what he said, and he nodded.

"Declan," Kyle said, holding his hand out.

"What?" Declan asked, confused.

"Can I see your hand?" he asked.

"Jessi already tried to help me," Declan told Kyle.

"It's not like I can hurt it any farther," Kyle said.

Declan nodded, giving Kyle his hand. Kyle focused on it and felt it out, opening his eyes soon.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it," Kyle told him.

"Of course there is!" Declan said, holding it out and showing it trembling, "Look at it!"

Kyle shook his head, "No. It's not your hand. It's your head."

"What?" Declan asked.

"It's psychological," Kyle told him, "You think you failed me, so your body is manifesting this. You don't want to fail me again, so you're making sure you can't help me again, subconsciously."

"That's ridiculous!" Declan said.

Kyle shook his head. He crouched down and picked up a rock, handing it to Declan, "Throw it at that tree," he directed out to a specific one, "Hit it. Foss taught you to aim, and you're already a basketball player. Hit it."

His hand was trembling as he took the rock. He looked at it, felt the weight, and looked at the fifteen to twenty feet distance that the tree was away from him. He looked to Kyle, "I don't think I can."

"Think about this," Kyle said, "If you hit it, you help me. If you miss, you hurt me."

Declan looked at the rock again, and then the tree. He took a deep breath, exhaled it, and then threw the rock, hitting the tree dead center in the trunk.

"See?" Kyle asked, grabbing Declan's arm and holding it there. They both looked at his hand to see that it wasn't trembling anymore.

"If it was in my mind, then how come Jessi didn't figure it out?" Declan asked Kyle.

"I'm sure Jessi was thinking it was bodily, after the beating you took," Kyle said, "I can't blame her. Maybe she thought it was nerve damage, and beyond our healing abilities, while I took a step farther and assumed it was mental."

"Well, you two are different, after all," Declan said.

Kyle nodded absently, "Are you ok now?"

Declan smiled a little, "You're back, and I can continue as your guardian. Of course I am!"

"Good," Kyle smiled, "I'm glad to be in your capable hands."

Declan nodded, "Both of them," he said, getting a laugh out of both of them over his lame joke.

Kyle grabbed Declan by the arm and looked at him, "Thank you, for being there. Will you help me see this through to the end?"  
"You know I will," Declan told him.

"Then I can trust you with something," Kyle said.

_Sometimes someone needs to be told the things that are kept a secret. I wasn't going to tell the Tragers until I had to. Jessi needed to know, and Emily already knew. Declan was my friend, and my guardian. If anybody else had a right to know the new secret I had to bear, it was him._

"Latnok infected me with something," Kyle told him, "A virus. I'm guessing it was made specifically to target myself and Jessi. It's working its way to my brain as we speak. In about five months' time, I'm going to be dead."

Declan just shook his head, "No. No, that's not going to happen. Not now, Kyle! Not after you come back after a year, not knowing if you were dead or alive! You can't just drop something like this on me!"

"I'm sorry," Kyle said, "We're working on what we can do. Emily and I. We'll find a way to survive. Trust me, Declan. Jessi and I will do what we have to in order to live. And if we die…"

"You do **not** say that!" Declan told him, "You'll live!"

_There was no reason to argue it, not now. Declan would come to accept things in time, and I had to give him that time. I couldn't press the issue right now and hurt him farther than I already had by telling him the truth._

Kyle nodded, "I'll find a way."

"We all will," Declan said, "You, me, Jessi and Emily. We'll find a way."

"We will," Kyle agreed.

* * *

[Start "Can't Stop the World"]

Kyle lay in his tub, staring up at the familiar ceiling he had missed for so long. He could hear the clock on his wall ticking with each second, reminding him of his life ticking away.

_I have five months to live. Five months seems like a long time from the first moment, but once it begins? Once it begins it will go by quickly, and then what? Will things have changed? Will Latnok be around? Will I be around for the Tragers?_

_ Or will Jessi and I both be dead?_

_ Jessi. The one person I never wanted to have to hurt like this. She's like me, but she deserves better. If either of us needs a normal life, it's her. After everything, she's the one who deserves it more._

_ I'm sorry Jessi. You shouldn't have been infected. I shouldn't have limited your life, but I didn't know, and for that I'm sorry._

As he continued to lie there he began to wonder about Latnok.

_Why would Latnok terminate us now? They had me for a full year, so why not infect me then? Or why not just kill me another way? Why give me a time limit? To make me break down, and beg for life? To make me do something for them in exchange for my life?_

_ To become Grace's god to live?_

He looked at the clock as it ticked. He knew every second as it passed, even without the sound accompanying it. He just stared as the second hand moved, and soon, the minute hand made a single movement as the cycle began again.

_I can't stop time. But I still have time left. Maybe the virus can be destroyed, or cured. Maybe Jessi and I can still live, and stop Latnok._

_ But for now, I have five months left. And those five months have one goal in mind._

"Stop Grace," he said to himself softly, "Stop my mother."

[End "Can't Stop the World"]


	4. How's Your Father?

I just want to make a note to you guys. Just because Kyle isn't sure how he got infected, that doesn't mean there's some secret to it. I just didn't come up with anything right away. If anything, Latnok infected some item of the home he was in with them on the day before the events of 'Almost Home' and he got infected via proximity, like someone passing on a cold to another person. He wasn't injected, or he'd find a mark.

Likewise, Jessi was infected by being in proximity with Kyle. The kiss did her in, though she'd have been infected by the end of the day regardless, since they weren't going to stay away from each other.

* * *

4: How's Your Father?

_The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt the people I love, the people in my life. However, it's not always something that can be helped._

"Infected?" Jessi questioned Kyle, standing in his room with him, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that Latnok infected me…," he was cut off.

"I get that part," she said, "How? Did they inject you with something?" she questioned, "How do you let yourself get infected by Latnok?"

"I don't know," Kyle said. He had thought on the matter and hadn't come up with anything that would indicate how he was infected in the first place, "All I know is that I'm infected, and you probably are too."

"What do you feel?" she questioned Kyle.

"I started to feel pain in my stomach and some in my head," he told her, "Do you feel anything?"

She was silent a moment, "Pain in my stomach."

"Then it sounds like I'm farther along. By this point I had head pain. It's slower in you, at least."

"Or it's just stomach pain," she said, voicing what Kyle hadn't. But both knew it wasn't. Latnok seemed to want them both dead, so of course this had to be the virus.

"We'll go to Emily and Madacorp," Kyle said, "We'll get you checked, and find out for sure."

"We don't need to find out for sure," Jessi told him, "Best case scenario, I have a few days longer than you to live. What was it? Five months?"

Kyle nodded.

"I guess I'd better get on with my life," she said, walking out of his room.

"Jessi!" he called.

_I knew she was angry. She had started to live in my place in this home, in this community. She had been trying to do good, especially after losing her mother. And now I return, make things slowly go back to normal after a year, and tell her she has less than half of a year to live._

_ I felt terrible, and I knew that she had to be feeling this way. The only thing was, I didn't know what to do about it, or how to make my amends with her._

* * *

A month had passed since then, and Kyle was no closer to figuring out what to say or do for Jessi to make her feel better. He felt alienated from her, and it pained him. He was sure it pained her too. After a year gone they weren't speaking anymore, no more than they had to.

Any happiness Kyle's return may have brought Jessi was gone now as she, like him, faced mortality.

The only upsides for Kyle were getting to talk to Josh and Lori every so often, though with their lives, these talks were getting fewer and shorter, but Kyle was relatively ok with that fact.

The only part of him that wasn't ok was the part of him that knew there was going to be no way to cure this. The part that knew death was assured.

But the rest of him tried to overrule that part. The rest of him remained positive that there would be a way to survive.

As Kyle was leaving home and heading down to the sidewalk to go for a jog that morning he heard something.

"Kyle!"

Kyle froze where he stood and turned around after a few moments, looking at the familiar figure standing a dozen yards away from him.

"Cassidy…," Kyle muttered.

Cassidy held his hands up, showing that he had no weaponry. He kept them up as he walked towards Kyle, "Don't worry. I'm not here as your enemy," he told Kyle, shaking his head, "No, I'm here more as a brother."

"We're not brothers," Kyle said.

"Sticking to that?" Cassidy questioned, "Whatever. Look, you need someone right now, so why not me?"

"And what do I need someone for?" Kyle questioned him.

"Just someone in your life," Cassidy said, "You're not doing well with Jessi, right? After she found out about…"

"You know about the virus?" Kyle questioned, resisting the urge to grab Cassidy and make him talk. Cassidy was a figure that Kyle almost had no problems going to anger over, but he didn't want to act on it. He didn't want to regret a decision, a lack of impulse control.

"Of course I do," Cassidy said, "But I had nothing to do with it."

"Then who did?" Kyle questioned him.

"Mum," he replied, "I know enough about Latnok to know this. You and Jessi aren't of any use to them anymore. The virus is meant to kill you both so you stop getting in the way. I think they consider what they have on you to be enough for buyers of the project."

"So the experiment is continuing?" Kyle questioned.

"Of course it is," Cassidy said, "For all Latnok's ever done, I'd wager a bet and say that that experiment is the best thing they've done. It can make them the most money."

"Just what is it that you want?" Kyle questioned, getting sick of having a conversation with a man he couldn't trust.

"I'm here to help," Cassidy told him, "I know you're not going to believe that easily, but it's the truth. I want to help you. You need someone, Kyle, and people need you to live. Not mum, but people. Your family, your friends.

"And I don't want to see my brother die. I want to help you to live. Help you to stop mum. I want to stop Latnok with you."

_As I looked at Cassidy, I had no idea if I could trust him or his words. He seemed to be sincere about them, but he could easily have been lying, trying to manipulate me into doing something. I didn't know if I could trust him, but he may have some answers that could help Jessi and I to survive._

"What do you have to offer with?" Kyle questioned.

"First and foremost, a cure," Cassidy told him.

"A cure?" Kyle questioned, "Are you serious?"

He nodded, "I am. Just believe in me."

"I find it hard to," Kyle said.

"I know," Cassidy replied, "And I'm sorry for that difficulty. But right now? Right now I'm trying to help, and I want to help. I want you to believe me, to trust me. I know we can get you a cure."

"How do you know that?" Kyle asked.

"Because the person who made the virus? It was my father. Mum's ex-husband."

* * *

"You're serious about trusting them?" Declan questioned Kyle as the two of them along with Jessi stood in the warehouse Foss had used to train Kyle in. Cassidy was standing at one end, arms folded over his chest, waiting for them to finish talking in hushed tones.

"We can't trust that man!" Jessi told them angrily, "He killed Sarah!"

"I know, I find it hard to trust him too," Kyle said, "But he might be able to help us live!"

"He took my mother," Jessi told Kyle angrily.

"He's done so much," Declan pointed out, "He's threatened your family, your loved ones. He's tried to kill you. Are you sure you want to trust him?"

"I'm not sure, no," Kyle said, "But I think we have to try to trust him."

"And why do you think that?" Declan questioned.

"Because I can tell that he's being honest about the possible cure," he said.

"Possible cure," Declan pointed out, "And how do you know he's being honest anyway?"

"I couldn't get any indications of a lie off of him as he spoke to me," Kyle informed them both, "It seems the same for him saying he wants to help. I think he's changed in this last year. I think after the Latnok building, he's changed."

"Are you going to trust him?" Jessi questioned, "Are you going to believe him?"

"I think so," Kyle replied.

"You're going to go with him?" Declan asked.

He nodded.

"Then I'm going too. I'm your guardian after all."

"Thank you," Kyle told his friend. He looked at Jessi, "Are you going to come?"

"If you're going, someone needs to protect you both," she said.

Declan let out a short laugh, "Ok, you know what, I'll let you have that one," he smiled.

"If there's a cure, then I want to live," Jessi said, "That's my reason."

Kyle nodded, "Ok then," he said. He looked at Jessi, but he could tell she had a hard time looking back at him. They still had their problems, but he was hoping to get past those soon.

Kyle left the two of them and walked towards Cassidy, who dropped his arms, "Well?" he called across the warehouse.

"We're all in," Kyle told him.

Cassidy nodded, "Excellent," he said, "You won't regret this."

"We'd better not!" Declan called, showing the firearm he had started to carry once more now that Kyle had helped him with his hand.

"Oh trust me, I'm not here to make enemies," Cassidy said, "I just want to bring my mother down."

"And after?" Jessi called, "Then what? Turn on us?"

"Never," he replied, "I see you as a way of helping me, Kyle. So I'll return the favor by helping you!"

"Is that what all of this is about?" Kyle asked, "Not helping us live, but you getting your leadership?"

"I'd be lying if I said I cared too much about your lives," he said, "I care, just not enough to be doing this without anything in exchange."

"Makes me feel a lot better about this," Jessi muttered.

Cassidy looked to the door, "Come in!" he called, "We're all good!"

Declan reached for his weapon, just in case. The others all looked over, watching as Olivia entered the warehouse as well.

"Of course she's here," Declan muttered. He should have figured. It seemed obvious she'd be where Cassidy was.

"If you can trust me, you can trust Olivia," Cassidy told them.

The woman – older than all of them – nodded to that statement, "Cassidy is the man I work for, and on behalf of. If he wants to work with you, then I will not pose a problem either."

"Or what if he plans on betraying us?" Jessi questioned the other woman, "Then you will too."

"I would," Olivia said, "I follow Cassidy." She looked at Kyle, "You're the reason the two of us haven't made any moves yet. Cassidy deserves to lead Latnok, and you can get rid of Grace Kingsly for the two of us. So no, I won't betray you guys. We need you, Kyle."

"You know, a gun can be just as effective," Declan said.

She looked at him with a small smile, "But a gun is much different from Kyle. One uses a bullet, one uses…philosophy, right and wrong, words. The less bloody it is, the better."

Cassidy nodded, "I don't want my mum killed," he voiced, "That wouldn't be very good."

"So you want us to sway Latnok away from her," Kyle stated.

"Exactly," Cassidy said.

"Look, I get that we need to talk about things, but we want to live," Jessi said, "Can we just go and get this cure?"

Cassidy nodded, "Yeah," he said, "Come with me. It'll take some time to get to my father, but we'll get there within a few hours, and you two should have your cure."

As Cassidy walked out, Kyle and Jessi warily went with him. Olivia waited and fell in with Declan.

"What?" he questioned her.

"If anyone is a threat to Cassidy, I imagine it's you," she told him simply.

"Likewise, for Kyle," he said.

She smiled, "So you'll be watching me?"

"I'll be ready to put a bullet in you," he told her.

She laughed a little, "Oh please, you'll be down before you can get your gun out, boy."

"Boy?" he questioned her.

"You're what? Twenty?"

"Twenty one," he said.

"Seven years," she said, "Boy is good enough for me."

"You know, you're not bad for twenty eight," he said.

"What's that mean?" she questioned him.

"It means I want to get inside your head and make it hard for you to pull a trigger on me," he said.

"What if it works the opposite? What if you make me angry with any flirtation? Or what if you start to actually mean what you say, and can't do it?"

"I don't know," he said.

"You'll already be down," she said.

"So, what are you then, Cassidy's protector?" Declan questioned her.

"He can protect himself."

"So can Kyle. Yet I'm here."

"Then call me that, if you wish," she said, "Cassidy's protector…"

* * *

"You see, the problem is that I lost contact with him years ago," Cassidy told the group as they drove. Cassidy was the driver right now, but this news made the trio even more wary of him. If he had lost contact, how did he know where he was driving? Or was he driving aimlessly for now? Regardless, he should have told them sooner.

"How do you expect to get us to him, then?" Declan questioned from the back seat.

Olivia looked over the passenger seat to them, "Just trust in Cassidy," she told him.

"Yeah, I'll trust in him when he shows me reason that I can," Declan said.

Olivia turned back to the front and looked out to the road.

Declan leaned over to Kyle, "What's your take on this?" he whispered.

"I don't like it," Jessi voiced, not bothering to whisper it, and dropping into the conversation.

"You don't have to like it," Cassidy said, "It'll get done, and that's what matters."

"Are you sure it'll get done?" Jessi questioned, "Are you sure we'll get to your father?"

"We will," Cassidy answered, "I may have lost contact with him a while ago, but we do know where he is."

"You could have mentioned that when you said you lost contact," Declan pointed out.

"It was implied," Cassidy said, "I'm driving us somewhere, after all."

"For all we know, you're driving us somewhere you can dispose of us," Declan told him.

"I wouldn't do that," Cassidy said.

"For some reason that makes me feel a whole lot better," Declan muttered.

"I'm the only one who can take you to him," Cassidy said, "Put up with it."

"I'll trust in you," Kyle said, looking at the other two, "Just get us to your father."

"At least someone has the sense to believe in Cassidy, besides me," Olivia said.

"I want to survive," Kyle said, "And I want to believe that Cassidy has changed," he told Olivia.

"I have changed," Cassidy said, "No need to hope or wonder. It's the truth."

"And anything you say is the truth, I take it," Jessi said.

"This is," Cassidy told her.

"Again," Jessi said.

"I know," Cassidy said, "You have no way of knowing if I'm sincere. Except you do."

"Kyle believes in you," Jessi said, "He doesn't believe that you're lying. But even if I'm not picking up lies off of reading your body, your pulse from here, I still don't believe you."

"Perfectly understandable," he said, "I killed your mother, after all…"

The car swerved instantly as Jessi grabbed Cassidy by the sides of his neck, reaching around his seat. Being seated behind him she was able to get at him easily, threatening to kill him, and all of them if she did do it.

"Please…let…go…," Cassidy gasped, "I…I'm sorry…."

"You're sorry?" she shouted, "For bringing up Sarah like that? No!"

"Jessi!" Kyle shouted, "Stop now!"

Jessi held him for a few more moments, then released Cassidy's neck, letting him swerve back into their lane and continue driving.

"I had that coming," Cassidy said, rubbing at his neck, "I'm sorry. Really," he said.

"I don't believe you," Jessi said.

"Believe it or not, I am sorry. And I'm changed. I want to repent for the sins I've committed against you guys."

"You can stop apologizing," Kyle said, "It's only going to go so far. I already believe in you, but I don't think simply apologizing more will affect these two much more."

Declan nodded, "Yeah, you should stop."

"Will do," Cassidy said, looking out at the road again, "We'll be there soon."

* * *

In about twenty minutes the car pulled up through a driveway surrounded by trees. The driveway was almost fully hidden from sight.

As Cassidy drove up, they could see a house sitting farther back. Not a big house, rather small looking actually. There was a shed off to the side, and they could see a small lake in the back, with a dock stretching out into it.

Cassidy parked the car and paused for a few moments, "I haven't seen my father in years," he admitted.

"Will he be willing to help?" Kyle asked Cassidy.

"If I ask him, I'm sure," Cassidy said, opening his door and getting out. The others got out and followed Cassidy as he walked towards the house.

"I don't have a good feeling regarding this," Declan said.

"What sort of technological genius lives in a place like this?" Jessi questioned, "Looks like someplace someone would retire to."

"Let's just see what happens," Kyle said, "It might look this way, but I'm sure it's deceiving."

"More like Cassidy's deceiving," Jessi voiced.

As they followed Cassidy and Olivia to the house, Kyle started to look around. There were no houses nearby, no neighbors, nothing. Just this place, just solitude. Maybe Cassidy's father did live here, and maybe he was a technological genius of some sort. Maybe the solitude suited him.

Cassidy walked up to the house, but then looked at the sizable shed. He went towards that instead, finding the large door open and an older man of around fifty five years of age sitting on a stool, computer towers all around, along with monitors and keyboards and other devices.

Cassidy stood in the entrance. Olivia was at his side while Kyle, Declan and Jessi looked in.

"Ok, so this is where it all is," Declan said, "Still, seems strange."

"People like solitude," Olivia whispered back to him.

Nobody said anything. This was for Cassidy to do.

He took a few steps farther inside, towards the man with the graying hair and the rougher clothing, looking as if he either didn't have much, or he was comfortable in well-worn items, even if it didn't seem as though it would suit a Latnok member.

"Dad?" Cassidy asked.

The man kept looking at his screen, typing a little every few moments.

"Dad?" Cassidy asked again, louder.

"I heard you the first time," the man said, not bothering to look. He typed a few more keys and then turned. He had a mildly unshaven face, and looked somewhat disheveled, as if he had spent most of his time here, neglecting himself and his own bodily needs. His work seemed to come first, that was apparent.

"Michael," the man said, "What are you doing here?"

He turned back, "These are Kyle and Jessi. 781227 and 781228," he said, "You made the virus that's currently killing them."

"And what about it?" the man questioned, "I did as I was told. What is it that you want, then?"

"A cure," Cassidy said.

"A cure?" his father questioned, shaking his head, "No. I'm done with your mother and with that entire part of my life. The virus was the last thing I had to do, and then they left me alone. I never have to see your mother again, and I never thought I'd have to see you again either."

"What?" Cassidy hissed.

"We've been apart for years. Did you think just showing up like this would bring all sorts of warm feelings?" he questioned, "No. It doesn't change anything. I'm done with your mother, I'm done with Latnok, and like I have been before, I'm done with you, Michael."

Cassidy clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. Olivia grabbed his shoulder as a small bit of comfort, but he batted her hand off.

"How can you say that?" Cassidy demanded.

"The truth is easy to tell," the man said, "I'm done. Go."

"No!" Cassidy shouted at him, shaking his head, "I'm not done here. **We're** not done here!"

"You are," he said.

"You made the virus, you have to have a vaccine somewhere!" Cassidy told him, looking at all of the equipment, "We'll find it!"

"I was only ever contracted to make a virus, never a vaccine," he said.

"I'm sure you have one though, right?" Declan called, "Like Cassidy said, we'll find it!"

"You don't know me," the man said, "Richard Cassidy. I'm a man who only does what he's told to. I was only told to make a virus. I only made a virus."

Kyle put his hand out in front of Declan as a way to signal to him not to speak. This was between Cassidy and his father.

"Well then, we'll find the virus you made and reverse engineer it," he told his father. He looked at Olivia, "Start at his computer, you can find it."

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll go get on that," she said, dreading the task of searching so much, but it was for Cassidy.

Richard shook his head, "No. First, she's not going to be able to find it. Not since I'm the one who made it and hid it inside of my files. Second, it's not even there anymore. Once it was done, I sent it to Latnok and deleted my copy and notes."

"Then make it again!" Cassidy shouted.

"I have no notes."

"You remember," Cassidy told him, "I know you remember how!"

Richard shook his head, "I'm afraid you came here for nothing," he told his son, "I have nothing for you. There's nothing I can do to help you save those two. They're doomed to die in a few months' time. If you want to try to reverse engineer the virus, go to Latnok, but it's not here."

"You're a terrible father," Cassidy told him, "But you're a man who kept notes, kept information everywhere! You have something!"

"Not since I came here," he answered, "There really is nothing. Maybe if you were a good son, and listened to your father, you'd understand the truth."

Cassidy clenched his fists again, turning his knuckles white once more. He looked like he was on the verge of going at and striking his father, but he kept himself rooted where he stood.

"Are we done?" Richard questioned, "I have things to do."

"You're a terrible father," Cassidy told Richard.

"Tell me something I care about," he said, "There's a reason Grace and I are divorced. I'm a terrible husband, and terrible father. I didn't try. I didn't want to try," he said, "Michael, any care I showed for you was a mistake. I see nothing mattered."

Cassidy glared at him, "If I could, I'd kill you right now," he told his father.

"But you won't. You can't kill your own father, Michael. I know that."

"You don't know what I'm capable of doing," he said.

"I can see that you're capable of caring for those two," he said, "I know about your problems with Latnok. I know about your history with your half-brother. I paid attention to things that were important to Latnok.

"Like Kyle.

"But now, here you are, coming to me to demand his life. You were ready to kill him at times. You hated him, you tried to kill his family, his loved ones. Yet you're helping him. Why? What could possibly drive you to help the man you hate? A man who hates you? Why do you want him to live?"

"Because he's the way to stop mum," Cassidy told his father, not finding anything better than that.

"You still care?" Richard questioned, "Latnok is a waste. Why do you want to rule it so badly?"

"Because it's my birthright!" Cassidy shouted, directing at Kyle, "Not his! Not like what mum wanted!"

"But now she wants him dead," Richard said, "So now what? She clearly doesn't want him to lead Latnok anymore. He can't if he's dead. And you're hardly someone who **can** lead it, even if you had the chance. You're not of the caliber to lead an organization like Latnok."

"I can make myself one," Cassidy said.

"You can't," Richard said, "Now you should leave. I won't tell Latnok anything, because I frankly don't care anymore. But the next time you come back onto my property and demand anything of me, I'll make you regret it. There's nobody around here for miles, after all."

"You're threatening me?" Cassidy questioned.

"Yes."

Cassidy glared at him, "Olivia," he said.

"Yes?"

"We're leaving," he told her, walking out of the shed with her. The others followed along behind him.

"That could have gone better," Declan said.

"No, it couldn't have," Cassidy told him.

"What are we going to do now?" Jessi questioned, "Your lead gave us nothing."

"We'll find a way," Cassidy told her, "At Latnok, perhaps."

"And you propose on getting into Latnok how?" she questioned.

He had no answer.

As they got into the car, Cassidy was about to get into the driver's seat, but Kyle stopped him from opening his door.

"What?" Cassidy questioned.

[Start "Crash and Burn"]

"I'm sorry about your father," Kyle said.

"What about him?" Cassidy questioned.

"That you have problems with him," he said.

Cassidy shook his head, "It doesn't matter. It never really mattered…"

_As I looked at Cassidy, I realized there was something I had to say. No matter how sudden, how strange it might be, I had to give some truth to him. He wanted us to trust him, and I wanted to trust him now. This seemed like the way to proceed._

"People shouldn't only see what there is, or what there has been," Kyle told Cassidy, prompting some confusion on the other man's face, "They should also look to the future, at what could be. I'm starting to look at you that way," he told Cassidy.

"And what is it that you see?" Cassidy questioned.

"I see a man who can be a friend. An ally. And someday maybe a brother," Kyle admitted.

"I'm shocked you would say that," Cassidy confided.

"It's how I feel," Kyle told him.

"We're brothers," Cassidy said after a moment's pause, "Even if we are enemies, or were enemies. But our mother has committed sins, and we have to stop her. I don't want her stopped just so I can take over. I want her stopped so that these sins don't continue. I don't want the experiment to continue anymore.

"I have my faults, Kyle. But the sins of my parents are greater than my sins. I've affected lives, the lives of people you love. But my mother is going to affect lives that have yet to begin. My father is affecting your lives by killing you, and doing other things for Latnok that cross a line. But he's gone, though mum isn't. She cares about money, not morality.

"I was doing everything I did for mum. For her love. But she's turned against me, and tried to kill me, as she's trying to kill you, and Jessi, and even Olivia. Everything has changed at this point.

"Kyle. No matter what, I will do what I can to stop mum. For the sins, for the lives of the babies, and also because I will admit it. I still want to lead. Or at least, I want to change Latnok into something better.

"But Kyle. Please, know this. I'm not our mother, I'm not my father. I'm not who I was. I am with you."

_As I heard Cassidy tell me how he felt, and about what was going on with his life, and with his changes, I couldn't help but feel proud of him. Proud of the changes he has been able to make, proud of the role he was choosing to take._

_ And when I thought about my words, I knew they were true as well. I knew that someday, I could call Cassidy my brother._

"I believe you," Kyle told Cassidy, putting a hand on his shoulder, "And I trust you to help us stop Latnok, and stop Grace Kingsly."

"Trust me, I will stop mum. Together, we will stop her."

"And together, we'll stop the experiment," Kyle said.

Cassidy nodded, "That's a given. But it will all be stopped, and then Latnok can truly change."

Kyle nodded, "Yes, yes it can."

[End "Crash and Burn"]


	5. In the Heat of the Night

I wrote this chapter at work in my spare time, like I wrote most of this season so far. The thing I discovered is, however, that my job killed my brain in how mind numbing and boring it was (security guard at a place where one really wasn't needed, so I walked around for hours on end doing nothing). So this chapter is probably the weakest of the season so far, and I'm sorry.

But my job was seasonal, so the next chapters (when I begin the second half) will be better, I'm sure. But for now, here's the next chapter:

* * *

5: In the Heat of the Night

_Another sleepless night has come my way, brought on by the thoughts of encroaching death. Jessi and I had about three and a half months left to live. Cassidy had thought he could help, but he couldn't. Although there is still hope._

_ Hope is all that we can cling onto for now. Hope that we can stop Latnok in time, and hope that they have a sample of the virus, unlike Richard Cassidy._

_ And hope that, if we do die, we leave something behind for this world to remember us by. For our loved ones to remember us by._

Kyle stood at his window, looking out into the darkness of night. Half of his nights since meeting Cassidy's father had been sleepless because of the inability of the man to help.

But Kyle did have hope for life. If nothing else, he had hope. Hope that Cassidy would be the man Kyle believed he was trying to become. He hoped Cassidy could truly become a good man, a man who could be like a brother.

Maybe if Kyle could help him become a better man, that would be one of Kyle's left behind accomplishments if he did die.

* * *

In the morning Kyle hurried, catching up to Jessi as she was leaving to presumably go to work.

"What do you want?" she asked in her hurry.

"I think we need to talk," he said, moving along with her so as not to keep her from getting to the hospital on time.

"Talk about what?" she questioned, heading out the front door with Kyle in tow.

"Things are better, but I know you still hate what's happening," Kyle told her, "We need to talk about that, and some other things."

"We're fine," she told him, heading to the sidewalk.

"I know we're not," he said.

She stopped and looked at him, "What is it you want?" she questioned.

"I want to be forgiven, if possible," he said.

"Forgiven? For giving me a virus that's killing me?" she questioned, "That's not going to be an easy thing."

"I know," he said, "But we can still find a cure."

"Can we?" she questioned.

"I believe we can," he said. But this was something they had already spoken about multiple times since meeting Richard Cassidy. This entire situation had been discussed before, with him being sorry, and Jessi not being able to forgive him, even if she secretly wanted to.

"What else is there?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not here just to repeat things," she said, "What is it you want?"

"I'll talk as we go to the hospital," he said, "I don't want you to be late."

She started to walk, and then to run. Kyle got up alongside her, used to going such distances with no problem. It seemed this was how Jessi got to the hospital.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was thinking about Cassidy," he said, dropping their private conversation from outside of the car. Jessi may have heard it earlier, but he hoped she hadn't eavesdropped into that. "And then I was thinking about you."

"What about me?" she questioned.

"I was thinking that if we die, we should have things to leave behind," he said, "I was wondering if you'd thought of that."

"I have. Kind of," she said, giving no elaboration.

"Anything about it?" he asked her.

She shook her head, "I haven't thought that hard about it."

"Maybe it's time we do think about it," Kyle said.

"That's as bad as giving up the will to live," she told him.

"Maybe, maybe not. Because we can still do something good, even if we do live. Why not do as many good things as we can? Leave behind good deeds if we die, and if not, leave good deeds done for the sake of people."

She shook her head, "I'm already working at the hospital."

"But is it helping you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you feel about it?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she admitted, "I do good things. I help deliver babies and things like that. But I don't know how I feel about the job, about any of it."

"It's new to you," he said, "But I'm sure you'll get a good feeling out of it."

"Maybe," she said.

"I want to help you with that," he said, "I want you to be able to feel good about doing good deeds. I don't want to force you to be like me, but I want to help you feel better about the deeds you do."

She had no answer for him.

"Why are you doing this anyway?" he asked.

"Doing what?"

"Working at the hospital like this," he said, "It seems a little strange."

"You were gone," she said, slowing and stopping. He stopped a little ahead of her, surprised by her stop. He turned to look at her, "I did this because of you."

"Because of me?"

"Because you were gone. Because someone had to do good things in your place," she said.

"So your job is because Latnok took me?" he asked.

She nodded, "And I'm still there. I don't know why."

"Maybe you're feeling your accomplishments."

"No," she said, "It's not that. I don't feel good about it. I mean, it's a good thing, but I don't feel accomplished. I don't feel like I've made a difference."

"Well then, that's what I'll help you with," he said.

"How?"

"By finding something good for you to do that you can care about," he said.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," he said, "But we'll figure it out. Trust me."

She nodded once, "And when will you have time for this?" she asked.

"Do you get a lunch break?" he asked.

"An hour, at noon," she said.

"I'll meet you outside the hospital then," he said, "Find me, and we'll see what we can do."

"Fine," she said, "If you think you can do something."

"I think **we** can do something," he said.

She said nothing back. She jogged off ahead, leaving Kyle alone in the gray morning in the middle of the street. He turned and headed back home.

* * *

Josh had had a bit of a hard time adjusting to his new college. He didn't have friends here, he had nobody to talk to really, and nobody seemed to really want to talk to him or befriend him. But things had started to turn around when he met a girl named Jasmine in one of his classes.

She was a beautiful girl, and while she didn't have his video game interests – which was fine with him, as it put her away from Andy – she shared some other interests of his, such as his belief in aliens and the like.

The two had been dating since they met, and Josh was happy. He had mentioned Andy before, calling her a terrible woman, and assuring Jasmine that she was the best woman he had ever met.

He meant that.

As the two of them were walking down one of the dormitory hallways that day, on their way to his dorm after class, they took a corner and nearly bumped into someone carrying a pile of items in their arms.

"Watch it!" the person shouted.

"I'm sor – wait. Andy?" Josh questioned, stopping his apology.

She shifted the items in her arms and looked at Josh and Jasmine, "Oh great," Andy muttered.

"Andy?" Jasmine asked, "The girl you told me about?"

Josh nodded, "Yeah, that terrible, vindictive woman I used to date."

"Terrible? Vindictive?" Andy questioned, "Well, I'm surprised you even attempted such a large word."

"It's not a large word!" Josh told her.

"You're missing my point," Andy said, "The point being, I don't think you can handle large words."

"I can!" he told her.

"Let's just forget her," Jasmine said.

"Who's this then?" Andy asked Josh.

"Jasmine, my new girlfriend," Josh told her proudly.

"Jasmine?" Andy asked, "Sounds like a stripper's name."

"Hey!" Jasmine shouted at her, "I'll have you know that…"

"What? Named after the Disney princess instead?" Andy asked, "Still, doesn't sound right."

"Andy, go!" Josh shouted at her, defending Jasmine, "She has a beautiful name, and is anything but a stripper, or something," he said.

Andy put her things on the ground so she could do things properly, "Yeah, I'm not apologizing," she said.

"Do it," Josh said.

"No," Andy answered, "So, I imagine you get a lot of use out of her."

"Damn it Andy! She is not stripping for me!" Josh shouted.

Jasmine shook her head, having no more words here, "Josh, let's just go. I appreciate you defending me, but…let's go."

Andy and Josh looked at each other, angry with each other. And then to neither's real surprise, they both moved forward and kissed the other.

"Josh?" Jasmine shouted.

But he didn't answer her. The two of them were too caught up in the moment to even realize Jasmine was still there. She shook her head in disgust and stormed off, "We're done Josh!" she shouted, "You're a bastard!"

But again, he hadn't heard. Neither had Andy.

Right now, they were only acting off of their emotions, off of what they felt deep down.

They still cared about each other, and still wanted to be together.

And right now, they were.

* * *

"Hello?" Declan asked.

"Declan, it's Lori," Lori answered him, "Are you busy?"

"No," Declan answered. He was at Foss's warehouse, trying to get some things set up again. He was going to put himself through it, get back into the proper form to be Kyle's guardian.

"Are you free to talk?" she asked.

"Yeah, what do you need?" he asked.

"I just don't have anyone else to talk to about this," she said.

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" Declan asked, going to that question on instinct, especially based on what she just said. It could very easily be nothing, but it could also be something.

"No," she said, "Well, not the kind you're thinking of."

"What kind, then?" he asked.

"Just please, if you see my parents, don't tell them this," she said.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" he asked, almost as a joke, but dreading it could be that.

"God no!" she told him.

He laughed a bit on his end, "Good. Ok, go on."

"I'm here for music, but…I don't think it's working out for me. I'm having trouble. I haven't even touched my guitar in months."

"Really?" he asked her, "Well…why is that?"

"I just don't have a muse, or any desire to do so," she said.

"Well, what I can say is that you should follow your heart," he said.

"My heart is music," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I am."

"Well, it's not working by the sound of it."

"I know," she said, "But my heart is music."

"It just doesn't seem like it," he said, "I know that it makes you happy, but it's clearly not working for you right now. Are you sure?"

"I am," she said once again.

"Ok, well I'm not completely convinced. But I don't need to be. It's your path, not mine," he said, "Look, Trager, if you truly believe in music, then stick to it. Just keep going down that path."

"I wish Kyle was around," she confessed to him, "I mean, I like talking to you, and I think your advice is fine, but Kyle's would be great."

Declan almost opened his mouth to tell her about Kyle's return. But he didn't.

He had been back for over a month, but he had told everyone not to tell Josh, Lori, or Amanda about him being back. He didn't want any of them to get used to him again, or to be thankful he was around again, and then be lost again as he died.

If he died.

"Declan?" she asked because of the long pause.

"I wish he was too," Declan said, his voice thick.

"You miss him too."

"Of course I do," he said, "Look, I need to go."

"Ok. Declan…thanks," she said.

"No problem Trager," he answered, "Trager?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Am I the only one you can talk to about this?" he asked.

It was her turn to go silent for a bit, "I don't want to tell my parents. I don't want them to think I'm wasting my time."

"Are you wasting your time?"

"I don't know."

There was silence on both ends now. "Well, just keep following your heart. It won't steer you wrong."

"Thanks Declan," she said.

"I'll always be here for you," he said.

"Thanks," she said again, "Bye."

"Bye."

She hung up.

* * *

When it was time for Jessi to go on break, she left the hospital and found Kyle waiting out front for her.

"What is it you want to do, then?" she questioned as she approached him.

"We're going to go and find someone to help," Kyle said.

"I just got done helping people. What's the difference going to be?" she asked him.

"I'm going to help you to feel good about it," he said, "That'll be the difference."

"Fine," she said, "I have an hour."

"That'll be fine," he said, "Come on."

She followed him, not asking him any other questions about this. She was just going to follow along for now.

"Tell me something," she said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why haven't you told Josh and Lori yet?" she asked.

"Because…as much as I want to tell them I'm back, as much as I want to talk to them, to see them, I can't. Because if we die from this virus? I don't want them to know I'm here, and get their hopes up, and then die on them."

"That's not going to happen," she told him.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because we'll find a cure," she said.

"You're being more optimistic about it."

"I can't die yet," she said, "I never wanted this to kill us. I've always hoped to find something, even if I sounded like we wouldn't."

"You've switched to being optimistic?" he asked, "As opposed to silent?"

"If it's just us, I can say things like that," she said, "Because I know you want to live too."

He nodded, "I didn't tell Amanda either."

"I wouldn't have expected you to," she said.

"I miss them all."

"I'm sure you do," she said.

He didn't talk after that, not sure what he could even say. He took Jessi to a park and sat on a bench, looking out at the fairly empty, grassy location.

"Why here?" she asked.

"This seems like a good place, that's all," he said.

"And if not?"

"We'll try again tomorrow," he said.

They sat and waited for about ten minutes. Ten minutes of silence. Awkward silence.

A few minutes after that Kyle saw a man coming into the park. The way he moved seemed to show that something was wrong with him. An injury, perhaps?

"Jessi," Kyle said.

She looked at him, "Might be drunk."

"I don't think so," Kyle said.

She sighed, "Fine," she said, coming up to her feet and walking away from the bench, towards the man. He was in his forties or so, it looked like.

"Sir, are you ok?" Jessi asked him as she came close.

He looked at her, letting out a groan. She looked at his leg. The way he moved with it, it seemed as though it may be broken.

"Are you ok?" she asked, moving to look at his leg.

As she did, he pulled a handgun out of his jacket, directing it at her, "Stop there."

She saw it, playing along. She stopped, waiting for the moment to save herself. She wasn't sure what Kyle could see, if she was in his path or not.

"Ok sir," she said, "What is it that you need to use that gun for?"

"You're coming with me," he told her, "If you have any money, you'll give it to me when we get there. Give me your phone."

"No," she said.

"Give me your phone," he hissed.

She looked at the gun and focused. She was going to push him away from her by repelling the water in his body away from the water in hers. She gave out the push, but nothing happened, well, nothing planned happened.

She fell to her knees, grunting in pain. It hurt. She gasped as her insides felt like they were on fire, being smashed around.

Was this the fault of the virus? Was she being affected more than they had thought?

The man grabbed her by her shirt and started to pull her, "Come on. Now!" he demanded.

Kyle was already rushing towards them. But then he saw the gun and slowed.

"You!" the man shouted, "Money! Now! And your phone!"

"What are you going to do to her?" Kyle questioned, not moving to do as told.

"I'm going to take what she has, then maybe rape her. Now, give me what you have!"

Kyle attempted the same thing that Jessi had done. He was going to push the man away from her by using Jessi's body and the man's body. But as soon as he gave off the push, nothing happened.

He focused again, trying again to get at the man, but it didn't work.

"I said money and phone!" the man shouted.

"Ok!" Kyle said, reaching into his pockets, thinking as fast as he could. He took out his wallet and his phone and tossed them over.

The man kept his gun in Kyle's direction as he crouched down to pick the items up, "If you call the police, I'll find you, and I'll shoot you."

"I'm not going to let you take her," Kyle said.

"I won't either," Jessi told the man.

"You have no say in anything," he told both of them.

Kyle focused again. Jessi did at the same time. By using Jessi as the focal point, they threw the man back by pushing the water away. Jessi felt the pain ripping through her again, while Kyle felt something similar, but not as severe. He rushed over, grabbing the man's gun for good measure, "Jessi! Call the police!"

There was no answer.

"Jessi?" Kyle asked, looking back. She was on the ground, unconscious it looked like, though groaning in pain.

"Jessi!" he shouted, running over to her and rolling her over. The man used his chance to run while Kyle focused on the fallen Jessi.

"Jessi! Jessi!"

* * *

Jessi woke up a few hours later in the hospital. She turned her head to see Kyle sitting beside her bed.

"You're here?" she asked him.

"Of course," he said, "We're the same. We're both what we are, and we're both infected. It's my fault this happened."

She nodded, "I couldn't use my powers to stop him," she said, "I think it was the virus affecting me."

"I felt the same," he said, "I think it was luck that we got it to work by doing it together."

"It was good timing," she said.

"But it hurt you even more," he told her.

"I know, but it was worth it," she said.

"Jessi…I'm so sorry," he said.

"You keep saying that," she said, "I know you're sorry about the virus."

"Except it's getting worse," he said, "We're being affected in ways neither of us could see coming. It's not only killing us, but affecting our abilities."

"I guess Latnok didn't really want us fighting back against them," she said.

"This is probably the worst way for us to die by this virus," Kyle said, "We lose what puts us apart from other people, and lose the advantage we can use over Latnok."

"They're making us normal people," she said.

"We're unique," Kyle said, "Powers or not."

"But we'll be normal, powerless people."

"We're already rather normal people, or at least should try to be," he said, "But we won't be powerless."

She looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"We have the power to help people. Always. Like we are now, or as powerless people. We can still help people, which means we aren't powerless."

"It's not the same," Jessi told him.

"No, it's not the same. In some ways, it's better," Kyle said. "People help each other. Powers or not, it doesn't stop people. Look at police, at fire fighters. They help people without having abilities like us."

"It's their jobs."

"And yours is at a hospital. Even without our powers, no matter what we choose to do with our lives; we can make differences to people. We can change their lives. In this way we have power, even when we don't have **our** power."

She nodded, "Ok, I see your point," she said.

"I'm glad you do," he said, "Just remember, we aren't powerless. As long as we live, Latnok hasn't taken our power away, if we choose to help others, and leave our marks behind."

Kyle and Jessi would stay there that night. Talking. The Tragers didn't know that Jessi was in the hospital, they assumed she was at work. This wasn't something that they would tell Stephen and Nicole. This was going to be their secret, to keep the two from worrying about them.

* * *

[Start "Never be the Same"]

As they continued to talk, the conversations eventually started to run out. But they were enjoying their time, enjoying the company of each other.

Finally, Kyle said something to her.

"I love you, Jessi," he admitted, "I've had time to think about things. I don't know if now is a good time to bring it up, but…"

"You have," she said, "And I don't mind the timing."

There was silence hanging between them.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, "Like a sister? Or…?"

"I love you like I love Amanda," he said softy, "I don't know if I love you as much as I love her. I've hurt her, so I'm staying away until it's over. Until I can find out if we can survive. So I don't know if I'll be able to figure out how much I love you, compared to her."

"I don't care about that," she said, "I really don't…"

They looked at each other for a period of time. Jessi sat up in her bed and leaned over to him as he did her. They kissed, a passionate, slow kiss.

"You saved me," she said.

"I needed to," he said.

She shook her head, "You helped me become a better person. I'm not all the way there yet, but you saved me from what I was. And for that, I love you."

"I love you too," he said, those words getting easier to say. Was it the moment he was caught up in, or was this real?

As they kissed again, Kyle's mind flashed to Amanda. However, it didn't for long. Jessi consumed his thoughts.

_I've been over this dilemma a number of times. Jessi, or Amanda? The woman like me, or the pure woman who first captured my heart? I know it is possible to care for both of them, to love them both, but it feels wrong._

_ And now I've admitted my love for Jessi. This is only going to complicate matters further, but for now, I don't care. Right now, I'm here for Jessi, and I'm here to help her through what could be the rest of our lives._

_ Right now, this night, this is how it should be. I won't hold regrets, and I hope Jessi won't either. Right now, it's just us and our mortality._

_ Tomorrow, we'll figure out what comes next._

[End "Never be the Same"]


	6. Limited Engagement

Ok guys, I finished the season. You'll get a chapter a day, if not more. But for now, we'll start with just this one:

* * *

6: Limited Engagement

_That night I thought to myself that I would figure out what would come next in the morning. As that morning came, I pushed it off as Jessi was released from the hospital. I pushed it off the next day too, as Jessi stayed at home, and I was conflicted on if I should try to avoid her, or be with her._

_ I've pushed off thinking about it for too long now. But what can I do? Even when I was with her, Amanda continued to come to my mind. This is a game I don't want to be playing. A game of my heart, a game of the hearts of two women._

_ I guess it's time for me to figure it out._

* * *

Kyle went to Jessi's room and knocked, "Jessi?" he asked her.

She opened her door, "Do you need me?" she asked.

That question hit him hard. Was she joking in some way, regarding their time together, and the problem he was facing? Or did she mean it in the way of did he need her for something? He was sure it was the latter, but still, the irony of the comment hit him.

"I thought we could go and do something," he said.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked him, opening the door all the way and letting him come inside.

"I thought we could just go somewhere and talk," he said.

"We can't do it here?" she asked him.

"We could," he said, "But I'd rather not. I'd rather go somewhere where we can be alone."

"Or is it something else?" she asked him.

It was something else. He had tried to help her that night, before the incident occurred. He had tried to get her to help people and feel good about it. He wanted to help her leave something good behind, as he was trying to do. But due to the problems that occurred, nothing happened that night.

He wanted to try again.

"Just come with me, if you can," he said, "I don't think you'll regret it."

"And if I do?" she asked.

"Do you regret things with me?" he asked.

She smiled a little, "Not usually."

"Then what do you have to lose?"

"What do I have to gain?"

"You'll see," he said.

"Oh, will I?"

He nodded, walking out of the bedroom, "Come on, if you want to."

She let out a sigh. Probably joking about it, but he wasn't sure, "Ok, I'll indulge you," she said. She walked out after him, "Now, where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said.

"And if I refuse to leave until you tell me?"

"The park," he said.

She stopped, "Are you joking?"

"No," he said, "Different park, though."

"Doesn't help," she said, "It'll still remind me that we're dying."

_Death was what she was afraid of. Not the danger the situation had presented, but the sign that our powers are weakening. The sign that we're running out of time. That's what she associated a park with now, after that night._

_ I couldn't blame her. She always enjoyed her powers. She reveled in them, it seemed like. But I wanted to try to help her, and this seemed like the best way to do it, even if it was going to be problematic to some degree with her._

"I know," he said, "I know we're dying, and I know this might be hard, but it will be for me too. But it's not as hard for me."

"And why is that?" she questioned.

"You'll see," he said, "Just please, trust me."

"Ok. Because it's you, Kyle."

"Thank you," he said, leading her out of the house.

* * *

"What do you want?" Declan called into the warehouse as he warily walked inside. He was annoyed that this place where Foss had trained Kyle, and then had trained Declan himself, was now known by Cassidy and Olivia. He was still wary of them, but at least it was getting better.

"I thought you'd be interested in doing something with me," Cassidy said as he walked out of the dark building.

"Doing something with you?" Declan questioned, "What's that mean?"

"It's no social invitation," Cassidy assured him, "No. This is important. It's worth your while."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Don't trust my judgment?" Cassidy asked.

"I still don't fully trust **you**," he said, clarifying.

He shrugged, "You have no reason to fully trust me," he said, "After everything that's happened, our positions reversed, I wouldn't trust me either."

"So what did you want?" Declan questioned.

"There's a Latnok warehouse that is housing equipment from old projects, and quite possibly for current and upcoming projects."

"So?"

"I think we should go and see what we can do," Cassidy told him.

"Break into a Latnok building and sabotage it?" he asked Cassidy, shaking his head, "Yeah, last time I broke into a Latnok building I almost died."

"You have me this time."

"Last time I had Kyle and Jessi. You're a downgrade from them."

"I'm sure I am, but this time you're not walking into an armed facility."

"Still doesn't make me feel good about it."

Cassidy walked closer to Declan, "Look, trust me or don't. Just know that this place has things important to Latnok, and if we can damage it, we can slow them down."

"Doesn't matter if they slow down and Kyle and Jessi die," he told Cassidy.

"No, you're right. It doesn't matter then. But we just have to make sure that we can slow them there, and then hit them hard before they die."

Declan noticed that Cassidy just outright stated it. He figured that was the type of man Cassidy was, but it still hurt Declan to hear someone speaking like that.

"Where is this place?" he sighed.

"Start driving. I'll give you directions," Cassidy said, walking past him and towards Declan's vehicle. He turned back, "Oh. Bring your gun."

* * *

Kyle sat down on the park bench. Jessi sat beside him after a moment, looking out at the park. It was a different one, but the memories came to her instantly. The thoughts of impending death. A death as a normal person, not as the person she was.

A death without her powers, she figured, was a humiliating death. A painful death. Her powers made her who she was, to the largest degree. She built herself around them, practically.

"Jessi?" Kyle asked.

She looked at him, "Lost in thought."

He nodded. He couldn't blame her for that. He looked at the park, "You know why we're here?"

"You want me to try again," she said, "To try to help people and leave my mark."

He nodded, "That's right."

"Why is this so important to you?" she questioned him.

"Because if we can do something good with our lives, then it's all worth it," he told her.

"Is it really?" she asked him. She looked out, "I did my best to help people in your absence. I didn't feel good about it, and I don't know if they'll remember me. I helped to deliver babies, but so what? Will the child remember me? Will the mother? Or will I just be someone in that room who held her child before she could? A faceless person?"

"Even if we're faceless, it doesn't matter. As long as we can help people."

"But was I a help? Anyone else could have done that."

"But it was you, not anyone else."

"So what?"

"So you left an impression of some sort, I'm sure."

She shook her head, "Let's face it. I'm going to die, and nothing is going to be left behind by me. You'll die, and at least you'll have done deeds that will be left for others to remember."

"Don't talk like that," Kyle told her.

"Why shouldn't I?" she questioned, "Even if we can stop Latnok, do you really think we can get a cure?"

He didn't have an answer. He wished he could say that they would get a cure, but he knew the chances were indeed unlikely. Unless this was some test or game from Latnok. Were they playing them for some purpose?

Or were they really trying to kill them, and there was no cure?

"The slow knife is the worst," Jessi said.

"What?"

"They're killing us slowly so that we can watch our worlds vanish around us," she said, "Or they could have just killed you, when they had you. They could have infected you with something much faster. But no. They gave us five months.

"They gave us the slow knife."

"Maybe it's for the best," he said, "Maybe the slow knife can be stopped, and healed."

"Or maybe it'll do too much damage from its slow trip that there is no way to help."

"Jessi, when Latnok had me, I saw the world," he told her.

"And?"

"I saw the bad side of things," he said, "I saw homelessness. I saw poverty. Disease. Death. I saw good lives, and I saw destroyed lives. I saw a lot of things, but I had lived here, with a good life, viewing good lives.

"Latnok shattered my perception by showing me everything. I knew life was like this, but I hadn't seen it yet. Latnok wanted me to become a god among men. They wanted to unlock my brain and help the world, or use me as a weapon. I don't know what they wanted, but they showed me what I already knew."

"And what was that?"

"That I need to help people. That the world can benefit from people like us. People with the ability to reach out and help others, wherever we go. We need to embrace the lives we've been given, and the chances we've had. We have to be able to help people, especially those who don't have anyone else to help them."

"When you were gone, you know what I was doing," Jessi told him, "Trying to be you. But that was in a hospital. I was doing things that other people could already do. You say that we have to help those who don't have anyone else. There were plenty of people who could have helped in my place." She gestured out at a child who had gone down the slide and skinned his knee when he fell off the bottom, "I could go over there and try to help, but his mother is coming to do it. Anyone could have helped him, and I'm sure you brought me here to help people we find like that. But that defeats the purpose of what you just said. You said we need to help those who nobody else can."

"Those people aren't always around," he said, "In the time between finding them, we should help anyone we can. What I mean is that the two of us are in a unique position to help so many more people. We should help everyone, but always look for those we know that the two of us are able to help. Where a group of people can help someone in need, one of us might be able to do it on our own. That's my thought."

She looked as the child's mother picked him up and cradled him. She tried to get him to stop crying. Jessi didn't say anything for a bit, then looked to Kyle, "When I was freed from Zzyzx, I lived like an animal. Alone, hurting anything that tried to hurt me, just trying to survive. I had a bad life, I saw bad lives. I killed a man…"

She paused for a few moments, but Kyle didn't interrupt her to interject anything.

"But…I have this life now. A good life. And I tried to use what you've done to do more with it. And I haven't been able to find the right way to go about it."

He nodded, "I saw things you saw. I saw what life is, and it only makes me more determined. You lived my life, and I lived a version of your previous life. I think that together, we can find what we need to do."

"But what is it that we need to do? Go around and help every homeless man to find a home?" she asked.

"We'll figure it out. We'll find the answers we need. We will find our path."

* * *

Declan had parked a distance away from the warehouse at Cassidy's insistence, not that he needed telling. Declan knew enough of what he was doing.

The two men hurried down the street towards the warehouse that Cassidy had pointed out. There were trucks coming and going every so often, making deliveries and taking items away. Cassidy led Declan around to the other side, where there was a door with a keypad preventing them from entering.

"Now what?" Declan asked, "You have the code?"

"Wait," Cassidy said, looking around a little. There was nobody around, nobody coming or going from this side.

"Wait for what?" Declan questioned.

"Never mind," he said, "I thought that the shift changed in a few minutes."

"Shift?"

"Even Latnok workers are on shift," Cassidy told him, looking at the keypad, "For whatever reason, looks like things have changed."

"Maybe they're extra busy today, and everyone is already here," Declan said.

"If that's the case, what are they busy with?" Cassidy muttered, looking at the pad. He ran his fingers over the lettered buttons, feeling which ones were more worn than the others.

"What are you doing?" Declan asked.

"The buttons are worn," he said, "Just trying to figure out the code."

He looked around, wondering if someone would indeed be coming, if this really was the change time. Or if someone would be leaving soon. Without windows looking inside, they had no eyes.

"Well, someone's sentimental…," Cassidy muttered.

"What?" Declan asked.

"The password is 'Baylin'," Cassidy said, typing it. He hit the enter key, causing a slight beep to sound and the lock to recede. He opened the door and hurried inside with Declan, finding themselves inside the warehouse already.

"I would have expected a break room or something," Declan said.

"Just right inside," Cassidy said. There were rows of shelves and racks, rising up perhaps twenty feet tall, filled with crates and other loose objects.

"What is it we're going to do?" Declan asked.

Cassidy put his hand up and moved forward a little, peeking around the rack that they stood next to, with the door right next to. He could see the back of a man walking away from them, and nobody else down that aisle.

"We should move," Cassidy said, "Hide somewhere, then I'll tell you."

"Hide where?" Declan asked.

Cassidy moved up to the next row and glanced around. Nobody. Declan took his place as Cassidy moved up to the next one, and then the next.

Declan was about to go, when he heard a voice coming down the aisle he had just crossed. It was close now. He looked around the next one he had to cross, and moved into that aisle, pressing his back against the crate right there.

As the people came out, he heard the talking and coming his way. He hadn't seen where Cassidy had gotten off to, but he knew that they would see him out of the corner of their eyes. He moved to his right, slowly, away from the pathway. His hand felt open space. No crate.

He got down low and slid into the space between the crate he had backed against and the next one, staying crouched in the dark. He moved slowly as he heard them coming down that aisle, getting himself behind the crate, for the most part.

He could just see their legs moving past.

He pulled out his phone, seeing a text. At least he had thought to go to vibrate.

It was from Cassidy. Instructions, since they were separated. Perhaps finding each other was more dangerous.

As he read the instructions, he climbed out after he made sure it was safe to do so. He looked at the floor, seeing in paint that this was row AA05. Cassidy told him to go to AA20, on the other side of the warehouse, and await further instructions.

He put his phone away and made his way in the direction he had seen Cassidy going, making sure to be wary of anyone else coming.

* * *

"Josh?" Lori asked as she left her class, "Now's not a good time."

"It's not?"

"I have a class in ten minutes," she said, "You need to make it fast."

"Um…well…"

"Is this important?" she asked him, getting annoyed.

"It is," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"I am!" he told her, "Just give me a minute!"

"Ok…," she sighed.

"Well…thing is, Andy and I got back together, you know?"

"Oh god, you didn't get her pregnant, did you?" Lori asked.

"God no!" Josh told her, "No way!"

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"Then what is it?"

"Well…we broke up again…"

"Again?" she asked, "Really?" She had seen it coming, but she didn't tell Josh that. Now the question was why he had called her about it.

"Well, she broke up with me. I don't know what I did!"

"And you're calling to ask me what it might have been?" she asked.

"No. I'm calling to ask how I could get her back."

Lori paused after hearing that, "Really?"

"Yeah! I'm crazy about her!"

"You guys broke up already. Twice? Or what?"

"That doesn't matter," he said, "We love each other, we hate each other. We break up, we get back together. That's how it goes for us."

"Sounds familiar," she muttered.

"Exactly," he said, "That's why I called you. You and Declan have experience at this sort of thing."

"But we're not together anymore," she said.

"Oh come on, that's just because you're not in the same place," Josh told her, "If you were, I'm sure I'd be an uncle by now."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she questioned.

"Forget it," he said, "Just please, can you give me advice?"

"I really can't," she said, "And no, I'm not trying to just finish this conversation. You care about her a lot, don't you?"

"I do, of course I do. Just like you and Declan."

"And you keep using that because…?"

"Because honestly? I look at that relationship and use it as a model of sorts," he told her, "It doesn't die. It keeps going in some form. You two have it down."

Lori didn't know what to say about that. She wondered what would happen if she and Declan would go and see each other again. She'd be back in Seattle soon, she figured. When they met again…what would happen?

"Look, I have a class," she said, "I will call you later, though," she told her brother.

"Please do," he said.

"I like Andy," Lori said, "And if you two are the way you say you are, then I'll definitely help you somehow."

"Thanks Lori," Josh said.

"No problem."

"Hey, Lori?" he asked quickly, just in case she was going to hang up.

"Yeah?"

"You going home sometime soon?" he asked.

"I was thinking of it," she said.

"Let me know when," he said, "I'll go home too. It would be nice for mom and dad to have us both."

"Yeah. Without Kyle, the two of us will have to do."

"Exactly," he said.

"Is that it?" she asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

She hung up and started walking towards her class. Thoughts of home now plagued her mind, and thoughts of Declan as well.

* * *

When Declan finally got where he had to, he got behind some crates again and sent a text to Cassidy. He waited until he got it back with instructions.

"Seriously?" he muttered.

Declan got out and pulled out his gun. He didn't want to do this, but he did. He looked at one of the crates about ten feet up, lifted his weapon, and fired a bullet into it. The sound echoed through the warehouse, and the damaged crate began to smoke.

"What was in that that?" he almost shouted as more and more smoke poured out.

He could hear voices, hear people coming. Then it hit him.

He was a diversion.

* * *

Cassidy pressed his back against a crate as people ran past on the other side. Once he couldn't hear anyone else he moved, heading for the office in the corner. He ducked under the window and sat there, listening in.

The distraction Declan had made as on the other side of the building, so he would be fine, he figured. This was all according to plan for now.

He moved towards the door when he didn't hear anything and looked inside. Nobody. He had been wrong; they had left too.

He went inside and looked at the computer. He was about to try to get into it when he heard two people talking. Quickly, he ducked under the desk, pushed a small trashcan aside, and slid it back into place to obscure himself.

When the two men entered, he could hear them talking about the equipment that needed shipping. He knew this equipment had to do with the clones. He recognized enough of it by name.

"Once it's out, it's staying out," one man said.

"Really?" the other asked.

"They won't have any need for storing it after that. It's going to be indefinitely used," the first one said, "Let's see…," Cassidy could hear him typing, "Here it is. It ships on the twentieth of May. That means on the first of June it'll be used, by these notes."

"They gave that long to get it all shipped?"

"Grace wanted ample enough time," he responded.

The virus had taken its effect in January. It was April right now. Late April. They were running out of time.

Cassidy took a moment to gather himself, pushed the trashcan out, and grabbed the closer man. He gave a shout, as did the other, but Cassidy threw him into the other man, grabbed the can, and smashed it into the closer of the two before running out of the office.

The plan was to meet back the way they had come. As he ran, he heard one of the men from the office coming after him. The others would soon know there was another intruder, and they would have trouble.

As Cassidy ducked into an aisle, he moved under a rack, sliding himself into the next aisle to throw them off a bit. But he could hear people. Declan must have gotten away, since two workers were now coming down the aisle. They had seen Cassidy.

Cassidy ran for them and slowed just before reaching them. He punched the first one across the face, grabbed him, and slammed him into the other. He continued to run, taking the corner and running into another man.

The man grabbed Cassidy, but Cassidy smashed his knee into him and then into the rack. He punched the man repeatedly in the face before dropping him and running for the door, where he saw Declan already, punching one man down.

"Let's go!" Cassidy called to him.

Declan opened the door and the two rushed out. They ran for the street and to the next warehouse, hoping to circle around and throw the Latnok workers off of their location.

* * *

A few minutes later, as they had gotten away and were driving, Cassidy looked at Declan, "How'd you do?"

"I did fine for myself," he said.

"Good," Cassidy said, "I learned something important."

"What's that?"

"The equipment for the cloning is being shipped May twentieth. The experiment begins June first."

"Is that what you came to learn?" Declan asked.

He nodded, "I thought it was best to lie. We couldn't destroy the place or do a lot of damage. It was best to get important information and go."

"You could have told me."

"I know," he said.

Declan sighed, "We have a little over a month left."

"And that's about all Kyle and Jessi have left at this point too…"

* * *

[Start "Opportunity"]

As they had sat on the park bench for some time, talking and waiting to see what might happen, Kyle turned to Jessi, "If nothing else, it's good to know that you tried to help people and be like me. Any time you get the opportunity, you should try. That's what I did. And still do."

"It's one thing that's come to hurt us," she told Kyle, "Your attitude about that. It's been a way for Latnok to sell you."

"I know," he said, "But the opportunity is still a good thing. Even if Latnok is going to use the good things I've done for a terrible purpose, at least I've helped people."

"And possibly doomed others."

"Only if we can't stop the experiment," Kyle told her.

"And you think we'll do that, before we die?"

"I have to hope," he said, looking at the park. A child was trying to swing, but couldn't get himself going, "Why don't you go and help?"

"Help him swing?"

"Why not?" Kyle asked.

She didn't say anything. She walked over to him and started to push him after a few words. "I'm Jessi," she said.

"Evan," the boy said as she pushed him on the swing.

Jessi slowly started to smile, "Ok, start pumping your legs. There! Now you're doing about half of it!"

Kyle sat there, watching. He smiled, feeling proud of Jessi for being able to help the child, even in such a minor way. He knew that she felt like she would probably be someone faceless and nameless for the child in years to come, even if he remembered her at all.

But for now, even the little things made a difference. For now, this was enough.

[End "Opportunity"]


	7. War Stories

This is a much shorter chapter, mostly because I had it planned, and as I wrote it, I realized I didn't have enough material to make it full length. I didn't want to stick a subplot with another character in either, so...well, here's a shorter chapter. To make up for it, I will also be releasing chapter 8 at the same time.

* * *

7: War Stories

_Time was something Jessi and I knew we didn't have a lot of, but things have since become worse. Cassidy and Declan informed us of the date of the experiment to begin again, which meant that the presentation was likely to begin shortly before._

_ We had about one month until our time was supposed to be up, and about just as long before Latnok began its plans. Jessi and I had no time. We had to act, and soon._

_ But we did have one trump card, which might be able to save us._

* * *

Kyle stood in Emily's scanner as the woman scanned him. She looked at the computer screens as Kyle stood there. Kyle wondered if the way she positioned herself was intentional, so he couldn't see her face.

When the scan concluded he walked over towards her, "What does it show?" he asked.

She hit a few buttons, "Look," she said, displaying it on a larger screen for him.

It was worse than he had thought it would be. The tendrils of the virus – for lack of a better word – were spreading up into his head. Almost the entirety of his torso was filled with the virus. There wasn't much left.

"You have about a month, as we figured," she said, "I'm sorry, but this virus isn't going to stop."

"We both knew it wouldn't," he told her, "Is there any luck no developing a way to counter it?" he asked.

"None, unfortunately," she said, "And Cassidy was a dead end?"

He nodded, "Unfortunately."

"If I had a copy of the virus, I'm sure I could do it in his place," Emily said, "With all of Madacorp, I have no doubt."

"And you can't take a copy from me," he said, "Or Jessi. Because of the human element."

She nodded, "It will have mutated too much from being inside of you for me to be able to do anything. I need an original copy of the virus to be able to try to come up with any counter for it."

"Is there anything that can even slow it?" Kyle asked.

"I don't have anything," she said, "I don't think I could make anything soon enough, either. At least, nothing we can be sure of that would work. If we developed something, by the time you'd see results, it would be too late to do anything else."

He nodded, "I see…"

"Did something come up?" she asked, "I know there's only a short time left, but it seems like there's some more urgency besides just that point."

"No," he said, not telling her about the date of the experiment. Cassidy and Declan's time at the warehouse was going to remain a secret.

She knew that Olivia and Cassidy were helping. She didn't like it, and didn't trust them. Kyle wasn't going to burden her by telling her about anything involving the two of them. He knew Emily wouldn't abandon him and their mission, but he still felt better without her knowing.

_A lie is never good, but for now, a lie is what I need to tell. The less Emily knows about Cassidy and Olivia's involvement, the better in the long run. I know she won't abandon us, let Latnok do as they please, but the less pain she has to go through, the better._

_ I want to spare people pain._

"What are you going to do now?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," he said, "For now, plan our move against Latnok. It's all we can do."

"Just be careful," Emily warned.

"I am," he said, finding it odd she would say that. He knew she meant it, and he appreciated it, but still, it felt odd.

"I know you trust Cassidy and Olivia, but just be careful."

"I know you don't trust them, but I am careful around them," he said. He said nothing about his trust for them growing, and his desire to help Cassidy become a better man. He felt like that was better off being kept from Emily.

He kept a lot of things from her now, it seemed like.

"Do you trust them?" she asked.

"I do," he said.

"I hope that doesn't prove to be a mistake," she said.

"It won't."

"You can't know that."

"I know, but I do trust them enough."

"Remember the virus," she said, "Neither you nor Jessi are in a good position anymore. If they do turn on you, remember that."

He nodded, "I will," he said. Since the incident at the park, it was hard to forget. He left Emily, thinking that she was wrong.

He trusted them.

* * *

"This isn't right," one of the Latnok members told his fellow.

"You shouldn't talk like that," he said, typing at his computer, "If someone else hears you say that…"

"Damn it Tom," the man said, "Just think about this! We're playing god!"

"But we're getting paid," the man named Tom said.

"Money doesn't mean everything," the man told Tom.

"Dave, you'd better just shut up and work," Tom said.

Dave looked at his computer monitor and slammed his fist into the table, "No. I'm done!" he shouted, getting out of his seat and walking away, "You can all go to hell for this!"

Tom watched him go, "Good luck Dave," he muttered, going back to work. He figured that security would take care of him.

Latnok didn't appreciate people like Dave. People who would leave like that. People who knew too much.

It was a bad time for Dave to find his morality. Tom liked Dave, he'd be sorry to know he was a dead man.

* * *

_I made it my practice to start visiting Emily and Madacorp every day. I wanted a daily update on the virus, so I could better understand its movement through my body. Perhaps a daily scan would reveal something that could be of use to us._

_ But that hope was worthless. There was nothing that we could find. And every day I did this, I had to face Emily, who continued to warn me about Cassidy and Olivia. No matter how many times she gave me a warning like this, I always ignored it._

_ They were my allies._

As Kyle was leaving Madacorp that day, he didn't think anything was wrong. It was as usual. But there was something different.

Dave was there. He knew that he couldn't stop the project from the inside, but he could kill Kyle and Jessi. They were needed for this plan to work. Grace had given them a virus, yes, but she still needed them alive for a time yet. The timing of the meeting would show how easy termination was, if something went wrong.

A murder would leave some issues. Nothing lasting, but perhaps enough for the possible buyers to realize how wrong this was. Maybe a murder would convince the people not to buy, to find their morality.

That was the only hope Dave had.

As he watched Kyle leaving the Madacorp building, he headed in Kyle's direction. He wasn't going to get too close. He wasn't that stupid. He would shoot him from a distance and be done with it.

As he watched Kyle walk away from the building, he drew his weapon and lifted it. Kyle hadn't noticed, but someone else did and let out a shout. Kyle heard the cry and saw the weapon aimed at him.

Dave fired.

* * *

_I had been targeted before, but I've almost always had someone there to help. Adam Baylin taught me how to protect myself with my powers, to some extent. I knew, as Adam had known, that there would always be people trying to harm me, so needing a protector, and being able to protect myself were two things I would need._

_ However, a gun was something else, especially in my weakened state. I only had one shot at this one._

Kyle focused. Time almost seemed to slow down for him. He took the moisture in the air that surrounded the bullet, and pushed it away from the water in his body. He forced the moisture in front of the bullet to slow the projectile, while the moisture at one side of it was used to push, in an attempt to swerve the bullet.

But as time seemed slow for Kyle, it was moving properly for everyone else. Dave had fired, and had been practicing since leaving Latnok. He had a few days of practice, and knew he could hit Kyle from this distance. He had a straight shot, and had kept the gun aligned properly.

When the bullet swerved and hit a tree a few feet to Kyle's left, there was definitely confusion. But Dave wasn't deterred. He shot again.

This time Kyle had no way of doing it. The first one had drained him too much for him to even think about doing it again.

Kyle hit the ground as Emily grabbed him and pulled him with her. She pulled her own weapon from her jacket and fired a single bullet from her downed position, striking Dave in the head and dropping him dead to the ground.

She got up and looked at Dave, "Are you ok?" she asked Kyle.

"I am," he said.

She wasted no time and hurried over. She kept her weapon trained on him as she too his, but he was dead. The moment he took the bullet he was dead.

Kyle hurried over, "You killed him…"

"He was about to kill you," she told Kyle, "I could have let you die. Is that what you wanted?"

"No," he said, "But you didn't have to kill him."

"It worked for the best," she said, holstering her weapon this time as they waited for the eventual police arrival.

"He was Latnok," Kyle said.

"What?" she asked.

"He had to be. Otherwise why would he come after me?" he asked.

"But if he was Latnok, then why would he want to? There's the virus," Emily said.

"Maybe he left them," Kyle said, "And if that's the case, he could have been an ally."

"An ally who tried to kill you," Emily reminded, but he ignored that comment and looked at the dead man lying on the ground.

* * *

After the police had taken care of the situation and released Emily for self-defense of another, Kyle went with her back to Madacorp.

During the trip back, she said not a single word to Kyle. He wasn't sure what was going on, but didn't ask her anything either. He focused on getting them back to Madacorp for now.

After arriving and going back to her office, she went and sat down in her chair, looking at Kyle for a few moments.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked her.

She looked away from him. She seemed cold and distant, but there was something deeper. Something wrong. Kyle just wasn't sure what it was.

"I…," she said softly.

"What is it?" he asked.

He could see that there were tears forming in her eyes now. She was shaking a little, "I…I haven't killed anyone in years…"

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I was a soldier," she said, "Your Tom Foss and I were both in Quantico. He was receiving his Special Ops training, and I was also receiving training. Similar training. I was sent to Iraq with others.

"We were black ops members. We went in and did things that the military couldn't divulge to the public, but things that needed doing. There were six of us, and we all did our share of terrible crimes. I don't know what's happened to any of the others, even though I should."

"Were you close?" Kyle asked.

"No," she said, "But one of them…Jason. Jason is the father of my daughter, Paige. The missions we underwent is what attracted Ballantine to me. He wanted someone of my skill, someone who would do whatever was necessary."

"And what are the things you did?" Kyle asked, even though he knew that wasn't the best question to ask. If it was a painful question, he hoped she wouldn't answer, unless she felt that it would help her to talk about it.

"We killed innocent people. We found those who had sympathies to the Taliban, and we murdered them. Anyone innocent whom had helped in any way. We killed them all. Women, children. There was to be as little support as possible. And the government could deny any and all involvement in these actions.

"We did our jobs, but not without pain. They were hard things to do. But we all did them. It's a life I never wanted to go back to, so I didn't want to work for Ballantine. I didn't want to kill that man. But I did. I worked for Ballantine for Paige's sake. I killed that man to protect you."

"Emily, just because you did these things now doesn't mean you're going to be who you were in Iraq."

"I didn't want to be that person. Ever," she said, "I was told that we were going to do Special Ops training. It was only when we were being sent to Iraq that we found out the truth of the matter. By that point it was too late to refuse. We did as we were told, as soldiers do. We had our questioning of the orders, but we were going to be heroes. Heroes the public would never know about, but heroes.

"Heroes do questionable things when they must. That's what we were going to be. The government could deny our existence. They could deny having anything to do with these actions. The people would hate those who killed innocents, but if they knew the entire truth of the situation, they would praise those faceless heroes who would do what was necessary.

"But that's not how things worked. Not at all. As soon as anything came out about the murder of innocent people, even if they had Taliban sympathies, it didn't matter. They were still innocent people. It was no different from citizens being forced to house British soldiers during the Revolution. It was against their will.

"We were hated. These faceless people weren't heroes to the people, but monsters. I didn't care. I was faceless. I could go on and hate them as well, once we were home again. I could hate the things I did.

"But instead, I buried all of it. For Paige's sake. For my own sake. I buried it. But today brought it back out. I've killed people before. Not only the innocents, but also people who have fought back. I've killed to protect myself and others before, but only in Iraq. Only during the worst time in my life.

"And now it's all back, Kyle. I don't know what to do about it. It's all back."

_I could see the depths of Emily's pain. Even what she couldn't tell me, I could see. It ran deeper than this, but I wouldn't ask anything about it. I wanted to spare her as much as possible, and do whatever I could for her._

"Emily, we all change," Kyle told her, "Even if you did those things, you had no choice. They made you do them. You're not a murderer. A murderer wouldn't feel this way about what you did today. You killed him to protect me, not to follow any orders. Not to kill him. But to protect me."

She nodded once.

"That makes you different from who you were. You may have been told you were protecting your country, but what threat were innocent people to it? Today, you protected me. You saved me from certain death, so that I can go on and continue to help people, and go on to try to stop Latnok. Your heart was in the right place, don't let it get buried by the past.

"The past is strong. Jessi still remembers the terrible things she did. I remember everything from mine. You shouldn't forget your past, but you shouldn't let it control things. Take your past, and make sure you don't repeat it. I can tell that you won't. The Emily of the past doesn't sound like she wept after killing. You are today. Let this be who you are, and who you will continue to be. Don't fall into who you once were."

She nodded again, "Do you still believe in me?" she asked.

"I do," he said, "The Emily I know isn't the one you speak of. The Emily I know is the one who sits here right in front of me. The one who weeps for a death. The one who is trying to protect me. The one who only has my best interest at heart."

"Thank you Kyle," she said.

"It's no reflection on who you are now. Your past. Don't let it control you. Remember it, but don't become it."

There was silence between them as his words sunk in for her. He wasn't sure what to do, so he gave her some more words.

"The day that Latnok is starting the experiment is June first. The presentation is likely to be a few days before it."

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Cassidy and Declan found out," he said.

She didn't react to Cassidy's name. She just nodded to him, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stop them. I'm going to be there, at the presentation, and do what I can," he said, "Please, let me handle this. I appreciate your help so far, but please, let me do this without you and Madacorp, Emily."

"Ok," she said, "I understand."

"Thank you," he said.

[Start "Healed"]

"You know…when I was in Iraq, I was always afraid of what might happen next. We all knew that at any time we could all die. I was almost ready to accept it as a penance, but we made it out and back to the States. After that, I just wanted a normal life.

"I guess I didn't get that. I wouldn't change this life for a normal one, though. I want to continue to be here and help you, Kyle. I'm glad I have this chance. Maybe I can redeem myself here for the things I've done before."

"I hope you can," Kyle said, "And when this is all over, you do deserve a normal life with your daughter. I hope you'll get it. I'll do my best to help you get to it."

"How will you do that?" she asked.

"I'll help stop Latnok," he said, "Once they're stopped, you should be able to enjoy a normal life, I hope."

"I hope so too," she said.

There was some silence between them, and then Emily spoke again.

"Kyle. No matter what, I'll make sure you live. I'll find you a cure, no matter what. I'll use all of the time left, and do everything I can. Out of everyone I've seen die, I won't be able to take watching you die."

"I hope it won't come to that," Kyle said, "Neither Jessi nor I."

She nodded, "All three of us will have good lives," she said, "Once Latnok is gone. I swear that to you, Kyle. I'll do my best to make that happen."

Kyle nodded, "When this is all over, I hope the three of us can all be healed."

"I hope so too…," Emily said, "I pray it to be so."

[End "Healed"]


	8. Try to Remember

Ok guys, since War Stories was short, here's the next chapter as well. The final two will go up tomorrow. Probably one in the morning, the finale at night. Other notes are at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

8: Try to Remember

_As time ticks away, I can practically feel death coming. I don't know how Jessi feels, but neither of us have long. Yesterday, when I came home from Madacorp, I had trouble finding my way home. Now it's starting to get dangerous._

_ First we started to lose control of our powers. Now I'm losing my mind. I'm losing my memories._

* * *

"Did you tell Kyle?" Nicole asked Stephen in the kitchen.

"No," he said, "We're keeping it a secret."

"Yeah…but I wonder if it's the right thing to do," Nicole said.

"He didn't want to see them," Stephen said, "If we told him they were coming home, he might leave. If he really is going to…to die soon, then at least he'll see them one more time."

Nicole didn't tell him not to speak like that. She knew the situation. She knew that they were losing control of their powers. She could tell that Kyle was forgetting things. They both knew that the time limit was almost up.

"But what will it do to Josh and Lori?" Nicole asked, "Maybe he's right. Maybe not seeing them would be best, if…if they die."

"I know," Stephen said, "But let's let it happen. They're in college. They should be able to handle it."

"He's like their brother!" Nicole told Stephen, "Could you?"

"Well, it's better than him avoiding them," Stephen said, "Isn't it?"

"It is," Nicole agreed.

Kyle came in, but hadn't heard anything. He greeted them quickly and headed towards Jessi's room, knocking on her door.

"Kyle?" she asked as she opened it.

"Jessi, we need to talk," he said.

She stepped aside and let him come inside, "What is it?"

"Your memory. How is it?" he asked.

"I've…I've been forgetting some small things the last few days," she said, "But…," she shook her head, "This is part of it, isn't it?"

"It has to be," he said, "We're almost out of time. Maybe you were right, about the slow knife. First they took our abilities, and now our minds."

"Then we have to act," Jessi told him.

"If only we could," he said, "We have to wait for the presentation, and hope to talk sense to the investors."

"Is that really the best way?" she questioned, "Can't we just go, get rid of Grace, and take over?"

"Trust me. If we can stop the investors and talk them out of it, we can defund Latnok, possibly," he said.

"I don't like it," she said, "Seems too filled with holes. If it fails, then what?"

"I don't know," Kyle admitted.

"Besides, what if our minds go before that day comes? Then what?"

"We hadn't counted on this happening," Kyle said.

"So adjust the plan," Jessi told him, "We should go and take care of them now!"

Kyle brought out his phone, "Hold on," he told Jessi, sending a text, "I'll ask Cassidy what he knows."

"And what would he have to say?" she questioned.

"He might have a date. Maybe there's procedure about when something like this would happen. Maybe they hacked the Latnok files. Maybe he has something…"

Things were getting more desperate. Both Kyle and Jessi knew that, and their ways of acting were clearly betraying it. This wasn't good in any way.

He received a text in a few minutes, "Ok. The presentation date, by protocol, will be on…"

"What is it?" Jessi asked.

"He says he still knows people inside. He and Olivia got the date." He looked at Jessi, "Since they were at the warehouse, everything was moved up. Tomorrow."

"What?" she questioned.

He nodded, "The presentation…it's tomorrow."

"Well, on the upside, we won't lose too many memories in the meantime," she said.

"But we don't have a plan yet," Kyle said.

She nodded, "Downside. But we'll get one."

"I'll call Declan, Cassidy and Olivia. We need to meet and plan this now."

"Do that," she said, "The have the entire day. We can do this."

As Kyle started to make his first call, Nicole called for both of them. The two headed downstairs as Kyle continued to try to reach Declan, who wasn't picking up.

"What do you need?" Kyle asked as they came down.

Stephen opened the door, "This."

Josh and Lori. It took them only a moment to see Kyle standing there. There was silence, dead silence. Everything stood still.

"Kyle!" both of them called, dropping their things and running inside, past Jessi and hugging Kyle.

"Kyle, what happened?" Josh asked him.

"You've been here? Why didn't anyone tell us?" Lori asked.

Kyle looked at Jessi, then to Stephen and Nicole, and the joy on their faces at this scene.

And then he felt his own dread.

* * *

As they sat at the table, Lori commented, "I ran into Amanda a few times in New York. I sent her a text, since she has some time off school as well. She sounded excited to see you again, Kyle."

Kyle sat there, trying to think. He hadn't wanted to see them, not with death so near. He also needed this day to plan, to figure out what to do about Latnok. Now his family was here, and Amanda was apparently on her way. There was also the possible lack of time to make plans. Did he tell them the situation? Or should he keep it a secret?

"So, what happened to you?" Josh asked, "We were both so worried about you."

"I…," he didn't know what to say.

"Should I tell them?" Jessi asked him.

"No," he said, "It's mine to tell."

"I didn't mean that," she said, "I meant the new thing."

"No," he said with a bit more force, "Not that."

"Not what?" Lori asked.

"Today we have to do something," Jessi told them, "We don't have much time for this."

"What is it you have to do?" Nicole asked curiously.

Kyle looked at all of them, "Tomorrow is when Latnok is going to show the project to buyers. We can't let it happen."

"Latnok again?" Josh asked, "You didn't deal with it yet?"

"No, and tomorrow is the day we need to stop them," Kyle said, "I'm sorry," he pushed his chair out, "I can't talk. I need to go. Jessi, Declan and I need to stop them."

"Well…there's always tomorrow," Lori said.

"And the day after," Josh said.

He nodded, "There is. Please, excuse me," Kyle said, heading towards his room. Jessi followed him.

"Something's different," she told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I know how my mind usually works, and I've figured out the problems from the last few days," she said, "I've been feeling them ever since you told me about your memory problems. But…those problems are gone."

"What?" he questioned, stopping abruptly.

"Gone."

"How?"

"What about you?" she asked.

He focused on his mind. It was better than before, but not as good, "It's…better…"

"It's them," Jessi said, "Josh and Lori. I'm sure."

"How?" he questioned, "How do you figure that?"

"The familiarity of those you haven't seen. It's bringing memories up for both of us. Memories are fighting the virus, almost."

"Memories…," he commented.

"That's how we keep ourselves sharp," she said, "Just keep thinking back."

Kyle nodded, "Declan?" he asked when he finally got ahold of him on the phone, "I need you to come here. As soon as possible. Tomorrow we go to Latnok." He repeated the calls with Cassidy and Olivia, and then went to his bedroom to wait.

"I'll bring them around when they arrive," Jessi told him, heading out to go wait in the yard.

Kyle walked to the tub and sat down in it, then slumped in it, looking up at the ceiling and closing his eyes, recalling some memories.

* * *

During Kyle's time with Adam Baylin, when he was corresponding with the Tragers through webcam conversations, he had only two minutes to get in touch with them. He also had the fear of Zzyzx, and the teachings of Adam Baylin always on his mind.

As he saw Lori and Josh in the webcam as it came to life, he heard Josh's voice, "Yo, Kyle!"

Kyle smiled as he saw them. The memories of his time at the Tragers made his life with Baylin harder, but he had to go through it. "Hi Lori. Josh. How are things back h—back in Seattle?" he asked, stopping himself from calling their home his own.

"Dude, you know what it's like here…," Josh said, "I'm on the honor roll, dad is totally accepting Lori and Declan as a couple…"

"Oh please," Lori said.

"I get it…sarcasm," Kyle said.

"We have taught you well, grasshopper," Josh told him. "You know what it's like here. You were the most interesting thing around."

Kyle glanced at the picture by his mouse. The picture from Lori's birthday, with his family and Amanda.

"And mom, she's missing you pretty hard. Please drop her an email when you have time," Lori told him, "So how's life with the Petersons? Are they freaked out by your superbrain, or are they cool with it?"

"They're…very understanding."

"Yeah, but I bet they don't give you a sweet old bathtub to sleep in like here in castle Trager," Lori told him.

"No, they don't have that. Do I see Declan in the back?" he asked.

"Yeah bro. I'm here," Declan said as he came closer to the webcam.

Kyle glanced aside to Tom Foss, pointing at his watch. A signal to end the conversation.

"Hey, my knee's feeling good, so anytime you want to go one-on-one on the courts, I'm ready," Declan told him.

"I'd like that. Ah…did you have a chance to look through the box I left you?"

"Um…yeah. I think I see why you saved that stuff for me. Loving the Earth Geos," he replied.

"Great…well, I…"

Before he could finish his sentence to tell them he had to go, Foss hit the escape key, ending it.

"I was almost finished," he told Foss.

"Any longer than two minutes and Zzyzx could trace the call right here. I already suspect their trackers are getting close. Besides, Adam wants to see you down at the shore."

Kyle nodded. He had left Declan the clues so that he would figure that Kyle wasn't living with his birth parents. He had to have someone know, even if he had promised not to tell anything. Technically, he hadn't.

"I don't like having to lie to them. It doesn't feel right. But I know it keeps them safe," he told Foss as they walked through the woods, down towards the shore.

"We all have ugly jobs to do sometimes. It could be worse." Foss lifted his fingers to his earpiece, "I have to check the north estate. Adam is down by the tidepools." He left Kyle by a large slope downwards, "You can find your own way down," he said, leaving Kyle as he went on to do his duties.

_My lessons with Adam kept my mind busy. The memories of my former life couldn't hurt me. And as much as I missed the Tragers, it was important for me to know the man whose genes I was made from. To know there was someone who thought like me._

Kyle leapt down, landing in the sand without injury, landing before Adam who sat on a log.

"Hi Adam," Kyle said.

"Impressive," the other man told him. "I admire your abilities, Kyle. But don't forget…just because your mind tells your body something is possible, doesn't mean you should always do it."

"You said you could help me prepare better physically, so I…so I don't—"

"So you don't physical degrade the way I have, yes. I have learned the hard way – things that will benefit you. But there are still hazards for anyone with minds like ours," Adam told him, crouching in the sand, sliding his hand down his cane to the center of it while the butt remained firmly planted in the sand.

There were twigs scattered around them, but a larger pile next to Adam. He reached one hand out and closed his eyes, "Spending most of your life in a gestation chamber gave you an incredible mental edge. Still, human nature likes a balance. I don't mean to make it all seem ominous. For instance…," a flame began in the sticks, soon growing into a larger flame, shocking Kyle by which the speed of this occurred, and from Adam's mind alone, "…you won't need to carry matches."

"Did that require a lot of effort?" Kyle asked.

"Triggering combustion in driftwood isn't that hard," Adam said, looking through the flames at Kyle, remaining crouched. He reached out his hand again, causing sand to spiral up from the ground, mixing with the flames and rising above them like a windstorm, "Making the heat and updraft direct the sands? Now **that's** tricky."

Kyle looked up at the sands, and then to Adam again, "You said that Einstein was like us. Could he do things like this?" he asked.

"No, but he would have understood it," Adam said as he rose, leaning on his cane a little. "One of the things he said always stuck with me."

Kyle glanced up, seeing that the sand had been shaped into Einstein's face and head by Baylin's manipulation of the heat and updraft. He continued to listen as Baylin quoted the man.

"'I discovered that nature was constructed in a wonderful way, and our task is to find out the mathematical structure of nature itself. It is a kind of faith that has helped me through my whole life.' Every time you or I make another mental breakthrough, we move ourselves along that path of new options," Baylin told Kyle, the sand changing as Baylin changed the way of the updraft and head, "And those leaps of faith can take not only us, but the whole human race places it's never been.

"But let's not ignore the other paths discovery can take. Not everyone will care how you can better the world." The sand changed shapes into a mushroom cloud shape with a ring around the base of it, spreading outwards like a shockwave, "Some will see you as a power to be harnessed. A deadly power. Like the people who supervised your growth."

"The Zzyzx Corporation," Kyle said, "But you worked with them, didn't you? Weren't they just following your theories of cerebral development?"

"Yes, I thought we were on the same page for a long time. But one of my failings is that I think everyone would share my idealism," Adam said as the sand collapsed back to the ground.

Kyle looked at the ground, at a dozen or so crabs coming towards the two of them, "Look!" Kyle said.

Baylin looked, giving a small nod, "Animals are much more honest. And you'll find they're often attracted to high-level brain use." He put his arm around Kyle, "Come on. Let's go back and have some dinner."

_I am certain of this: Just when you think a lesson is finished, is when it's really just begun._

* * *

Kyle opened his eyes when Jessi came around the outside with their three allies. Kyle climbed out of his tub as they came inside, "We don't have a lot of time," he said.

"Yeah, sorry," Cassidy said, "I should have asked for information a few days ago. I wouldn't have thought mum would change things like this. It's not like her."

"Don't worry about it," Kyle said, "For now, we just have to focus on making a plan, and finding out the time and where it is."

"I have that," Cassidy said, "And blueprints."

"Great," Kyle said, "Can you show us?"

* * *

As they looked at the blueprints on Kyle's computer and worked on a plan, there was a knock and Josh came in, "Kyle…"

He saw all of them, "Wait…what are they doing here?" he demanded, of Cassidy and Olivia.

Declan looked to him, "Josh, it's ok. They're on our side now."

"Really? After everything that's happened?" he questioned.

"Really," Kyle told him, "Josh, can you please give us time? We need it."

He shook his head, "I don't believe this…"

Kyle took a moment to leave the others and walked towards Josh, "What do you need?" he asked, ignoring Josh's problems with Cassidy and Olivia.

"I called Andy," he said, "She wanted to talk to you."

Kyle closed the door and stepped out of his room, "Hello?" he asked.

"Kyle?" Andy asked, "It is you! What happened?"

"Don't worry about it," Kyle said, "I can tell you another time."

"Well, I'm glad to know you're safe," she told him.

"I'm with my family," he said.

"That's good," she said, "Josh was always worried about you. So was I."

"How are things with you two?" he asked, but noticed Josh shaking his head 'no'.

"We broke up, got back together, and that cycle continued. We're on the second step. I don't think we'll go back to the first again."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, "I thought you two were really good together."

"But it won't happen again," she said.

"It might," he said.

"Did Josh ask you to say that?"

"No," he said, "That's me."

"It won't," Andy said, "Well, nice talking to you. Can you give me back to Josh?"

"Yeah," he said, giving Josh the phone back.

"I didn't tell him to say it," Josh said, "I swear!" he told her as he walked away from Kyle.

Before Kyle went back inside, Lori came to him, "I saw Declan's car."

"He's here," Kyle said, "But I need him for now."

"I understand," she said, "Can you send him out when he's done?"

"Yeah," he said, reaching for his door.

"Kyle?" Lori asked.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were back? Why didn't mom and dad? What's going on?" she questioned. "I didn't ask them. I'm asking you. I will ask them if you don't tell me. But I will get an answer."

Kyle lowered his arm and looked at her, "Latnok had me," he told her, "For a full year. And when I left…they infected me with a virus. That was in January. In a few weeks, I'll probably be dead, along with Jessi. What we're planning now is to bring down Latnok, stop the experiment, and hopefully get a cure."

She didn't say anything, which surprised Kyle. Instead she put her arms around him, "Kyle…don't die. Please, just don't die on us…"

"I'll do my best not to," he told her, putting his arms around her.

She drew back, "I can see why you didn't tell us."

He nodded, "And what do you think of that?"

"I completely understand. I would be hurt, but I would understand."

He paused for a few moments, "How's Amanda?"

"She's good. She misses you," Lori said, "I hope she gets in and can see you."

"I hope so too," he said, "Please, excuse me."

"Of course," she said, leaving him be as he went back inside to work on the plans. However, he thought of Amanda, and more of his time with Baylin.

* * *

As Kyle and Adam Baylin were walking from the beach, Adam was leading him towards a longer path, "Since I can't jump or climb like you, we'll be taking this trail back to the house."

"That's fine," Kyle replied.

As they walked for a little through the wooded path, Kyle looked around, hearing Baylin's question, "Is something up, Kyle?"

He looked at the other man, "I don't know. I have a feeling like…we're being watched."

"It's possible, Kyle. Even though we're very remote, there's a lot of land out here. Threats can approach from many points."

Kyle stopped along with Baylin, "I don't think it's the kind of threat you have Tom Foss deal with," he said. He looked to the side, to a tree branch, "It's…a cougar."

The large cat looked at the two of them as they spoke, remaining on the branch.

"This is far west for a cougar. It's normal hunting grounds must be sparse," Baylin commented.

The cougar let out a growl, coming off of the branch and onto a large rock that was next to it, poising itself as if it might attack.

"Get back!" Kyle told Baylin, getting in front of him and pushing back a little. "Stop moving!"

"Do you get any feelings from it, Kyle?" Baylin asked.

"Just…rage…," Kyle said as it growled again.

"Is it really rage?" Baylin asked.

"No. It's fear. She wants to get us because we threaten her existence." Kyle closed his eyes, "There's a slight scar on her left flank – she was grazed by a hunter's bullet. All she knows is…kill – or be killed."

The cougar continued to watch them, growling again.

"Then you're going to have to give her another option," Baylin said.

As it growled at Kyle, he lowered his head at it a bit, staring it down.

It let out a roar this time, and Kyle's eyes opened wider as he looked to it.

The cougar's roar stopped as it lifted its head, the malice in it seemingly vanishing as it leapt off of the stone and walked along, paying them no heed.

"Good work," Baylin told him as he watched it go, "Did you project a command?"

"No. Just a memory," Kyle said.

_I had simply thought of my friend Amanda stopping to play with a neighbor's cat on one of our walks. Since staying at Adam's house, I had been making enemies of my memories – but now I realized I could draw strength from them._

He could see Amanda, see the cat. The memories came back to him of home, of the life he loved, of the life he wanted to return to.

"You caused the cougar to approach us, didn't you?" Kyle asked as he watched the cougar walk into the woods again.

"We better get back," Adam said, "Tom might be worried about us."

Later that night, as Adam and Kyle stood on the deck and looked into the ocean and the starry night, Tom opened the door of the deck, "I hate to impose a curfew, but…"

"We'll be right in, Tom," Adam said, holding his wine glass. Kyle looked back to Tom as he had spoken, while Adam looked out yet, "It's like a school night again, eh, Kyle?"

_My foster-brother Josh always joked that I was left here by aliens from another planet. It was a scary idea…but I kind of liked it. Because it meant somewhere…I belonged._

_ I needed to be around Adam, yet I needed the Tragers too. Before I thought the two choices were irreconcilable – like binary code or opposite sides of a coin._

The two men looked out into the night sky, at the stars. Adam took a sip of his wine as the two stood alone, silent.

_Now I was starting to see that there are more than just two options to any problem._

Kyle saw not only the stars now, but the image of Lori's birthday. All of them together, there, with the stars.

_I didn't know what the answer was yet, but I knew there could be one._

* * *

"The Latnok facility in question is in Moscow, Washington," Cassidy said, "We'll have to leave tonight to make it there in decent time."

"And what is the end result?" Olivia asked, "The destruction of Latnok? Or a takeover?"

"As long as we stop the experiment and Grace's faction," Declan said, "Right?"

Kyle didn't know. "I just want it stopped. If we bring down all of Latnok, or someone better takes over, I don't know. We'll find out."

Olivia looked at Cassidy, "You should take over."

That only earned a smile, "I know."

"So, if we have to leave tonight, should we go now?" Declan asked, "We have the plan."

"Yeah, let's go," Kyle said.

They started to leave. Declan, Cassidy and Olivia went out the back, while Jessi and Kyle were going through the house. Kyle would apologize later to Lori for taking Declan away before she could see him.

Kyle left only a note, as he didn't run into anybody. As the two of them went out the front, and Declan pulled his vehicle into the driveway, Kyle looked next door, missing Amanda, wishing she had come home too.

As Jessi got in, he stood for another moment, seeing a car pull in. His heart raced. Was this her? Had she been coming already, before Lori had contacted her? But the car pulled in, then backed out and went the way it had just come.

Kyle stood there for another few moments before Declan called to him.

[Start "Falling Apart"]

"I'm coming," Kyle said, walking towards the vehicle. He got in the back and buckled in as Declan pulled out of the driveway.

He looked one more time at his home, and then at Amanda's. He worried about her, and hoped that she would be safe, and find a good future for herself. He was afraid of seeing her again, seeing her like this.

It was hard enough to see Josh and Lori like this, but he loved her. They were his siblings, but she was the woman he loved. There was a difference. But any of them would miss him, he knew.

He didn't want to leave them.

But even if they could be cured, what about his memory? Would the lost memories remain lost? Would he forget parts of Amanda, parts of his friends? His family? What would come of all of this for him?

And what of their plan? Would it even work? Could they convince the investors not to buy the clones? Could they stop the experiment? Stop Latnok?

There was too much on the line. Kyle had led free life. Jessi had led a mostly free life. He didn't want others like them to be slaves, to be used.

Life was meant to be free. God was meant to be God. Humans shouldn't be in servitude, and humans shouldn't play god.

There were chances they had to take here, but for Kyle, he only hoped that these chances would all turn out in their favor.

[End "Falling Apart"]

* * *

Ok guys, I just want to let you know that the scenes with Baylin and Kyle are not my own doing. There's a comic that was only released at Comic Con in (I think) 2007, which I just got my hands on a copy of in early December. Those scenes are directly lifted from the comic (which I believe is canon. It takes place before season 2, but after season 1). The rest of the comic is about Zzyzx sending someone to kill Kyle while Jessi is still in gestation, and Foss going about his duties and shooting the guy into the ocean to protect Kyle and Baylin.


	9. Closing Time

9: Closing Time

_Today was the day that Latnok would attempt to sell the clones to the highest bidders. While having more people like Jessi and myself in the world could be a good thing, the sorts of people we would assume Latnok to be selling to were far from benevolent in their intentions._

_ Today was the day that we had to stop Latnok. There were only five of us, and Jessi and I are weakened and losing our memories and minds. At home we have our family, waiting for us to come back._

_ We have to go back. To Josh. To Lori. To Stephen. To Nicole._

_ And to Amanda, when she comes into Seattle._

_ We have to stop Latnok today, and stop this terrible experiment. Lives, morality, it's in the balance._

* * *

"Well, there's the building," Declan said as they parked across the street. It was a large building, and appeared like an office building of some sort. According to Cassidy and his blueprints, the meeting would be taking place on the thirtieth floor at noon.

It was eight a.m.

"We have a few hours," Cassidy said, "Kyle, what is it you want to do?"

Kyle looked at the building and thought about it. "The buyers probably won't be there yet. If we went in now and caused any sort of scene, they might tell the buyers to go somewhere else. Or reschedule. We'll have to wait until it's closer to the time of the meeting."

"And in the meantime?" Olivia asked.

"In the meantime we can wait here," Kyle said, "Watch who comes and goes."

"Usually they begin to arrive half an hour early," Cassidy said.

"So we'll go in around that time and make our way to the conference room," Kyle said, "It'll take time for us to get up that far, I imagine."

Cassidy nodded, "I imagine there will be a larger number than usual for security."

"Well, what do we have?" Declan asked, "Let's take an inventory."

"No killing," Kyle said, "We don't want to hurt them."

"If they get in the way, they will go down," Cassidy told his half-brother.

"Just don't do more than you have to," Kyle said.

"We'll handle this how we have to," Cassidy told him.

"I saw you fight at the warehouse," Declan told Cassidy, "That was kind of brutal how you beat on that guy."

"Don't do that," Kyle told Cassidy.

"I'll do what's necessary. We're doing this for you, remember," Cassidy said, "As long as you can get there, it doesn't matter."

"It does matter," Kyle said, "Because they're normal people."

"People with guns," Cassidy said, "While we only have one between five of us. Sure, I have my electrical gun, so does Olivia. And you two are losing your powers," he said of Kyle and Jessi, "We're under equipped for this."

"Make do, please," Kyle said.

"We will," Declan said.

"And don't count us out, Cassidy," Jessi told him, "Kyle and I can handle things."

"I hope so," Cassidy said.

"Let's move on," Olivia said, "So we go in the front, and make our way for the stairs. Elevator can be stopped, so stairs."

"Right," Kyle said, "We get up as far as we can, together."

"And where is the conference room?" Jessi asked.

"You'll come out onto the thirtieth floor, and it'll be straight ahead," Cassidy said, "It's simple enough."

"Now we wait," Kyle said.

* * *

As the hours passed, they remained where they were. It was quarter past eleven and they saw the first buyer going inside. He was a slightly overweight middle aged man in a nice suit. There were two men in suits leaving the building to escort him in.

"Security," Cassidy said.

As time passed to the eleven thirty mark, they had seen a total of four men and one woman enter. Those were the only buyers that Cassidy was aware of.

"Will they start early?" Kyle asked.

"No," Cassidy said, "Mum doesn't start early."

"She changed locations and times," Olivia reminded Cassidy.

"I know," Cassidy said.

"I think we should go now," Declan said, "I don't want to cut this closer than we have to."

"I'm ready," Jessi said, "Let's go and do what we came to do."

"Remember. No killing," Kyle said, "We're not here to leave people down. We're here to stop an immoral experiment."

"You worry too much," Cassidy told Kyle, getting out of the passenger seat.

Declan and the others got out after him. Declan locked his vehicle and the group made their way to the Latnok facility. Through the large glass doors they could see a single man behind the desk. He noticed them and pressed a button as Cassidy reached the door. It wouldn't open.

"Guess we have to break it," Cassidy said.

"You can't," Jessi said, looking at the glass, "It's not normal glass." She put both of her hands on it, "But I can."

With her abilities she began to crack it. The glass shattered in moments. It didn't matter how strong it was, breaking glass was an easy task for herself and Kyle.

As they hurried in, the man behind the desk panicked and reached down, pulling out a handgun. Cassidy lifted his arm and pressed the button on his electrical weapon, sending an arc of electricity into the man. He collapsed as electricity coursed through him.

"Stairs," Cassidy said, running towards the desk and grabbing the man's weapon. He ran after them, turning to see two security guards running from the other side of the room, "Faster!" he shouted at his group.

The men drew their weapons as they stopped and started to fire. They missed as the group started through the door and up, but Cassidy, being the last one in, took a shot to the leg.

He collapsed halfway, shouting and cursing in pain. Olivia turned to him, "Cassidy!" she called, descending to him and grabbing him, helping him manage the stairs.

"Hurry!" Declan shouted, looking up. He could see two men descending from above, but they didn't waste their time firing yet.

Jessi pushed past Declan, "Let me," she said.

"Jessi," Kyle said, grabbing her arm.

"I know," she said, looking him in the eyes, "Be careful."

She broke his grip and ran up the stairs. When there was a single flight between her and the two men, she leapt up the flight, landing right in front of them on the top step and grabbing each one on the chest. From such a close distance she had minimal problems using the water in their bodies to repel them into the wall behind.

Or maybe it was desperation. Desperation of knowing she'd be dead if it didn't work.

As the rest of the group reached her, they could hear the two guards from below making their ascent. Cassidy stopped by the two downed guards, grabbing one gun and putting his arm through the gap between the stairs going down, and the railing of the next set below.

He didn't look, as he had no space to. He simply pulled the trigger a few times, letting shots fly down. He didn't plan on hitting anything, and he knew they would already know the group was in the stairs, so making sound wasn't a huge concern, other than telling exactly where they were.

The shots slowed the two down, buying the others more time to continue on up. Cassidy dropped the weapon and took Olivia's help to head back up.

Once they hit ten, Cassidy stopped, "I can't keep going like this," he told them.

Kyle hurried to his half-brother from halfway up the next flight. He looked to Jessi and Declan, "Keep going!" He crouched down by Cassidy's leg, putting his hands on the wound.

"It doesn't matter!" Declan told him, "You're the one who needs to get up here! Not us!"

Jessi moved down, "You go. I'll help Cassidy." She looked at Olivia, "You go with them."

"I won't leave him," she told Jessi.

"He's in my hands," Jessi said, "They need you more."

Cassidy nodded, "I appreciate the loyalty, but think of the mission. Go with Kyle."

She nodded only after Cassidy told her, "Ok," she said, "Because you told me to."

Olivia hurried up the stairs with Kyle and Declan, leaving Jessi and Cassidy behind.

"Any plan when they catch up?" Jessi asked him.

"I have my gun, and my electric weapon," he told her, "That's plan enough for me."

"Good, because I don't think I can do much," she said. Healing alone was going to leave her almost useless.

"Then stop healing me and go," Cassidy said. He looked at the door at his side, "I'll go in the tenth floor and keep them off of you guys for a bit, if I can."

"You won't get far with your leg," she said.

"I know," he said, "But let me do something."

"Kyle wouldn't want me to."

"Forget what he wants!" Cassidy told her, "You don't like me. Get rid of me!"

"But I do care about Kyle, and what he thinks," she said.

"Just let me do this!" Cassidy shouted.

"No," she said, continuing to heal him. They could hear the two men. They were probably two flights below at this point.

Cassidy withdrew his firearm, "Ok then," he said, pointing it down he flight of stairs.

* * *

As Kyle, Olivia and Declan reached the fifteenth floor, they heard gunshots below. Nobody said anything, they just continued on.

"We're over halfway there," Declan said.

Olivia nodded, "How much farther before we reach resistance, though?" she poised.

As they went up another few, they saw two men on the landing above them, but they weren't armed.

"What's this?" Declan shouted at them.

"Do you remember me?" Olivia questioned them, "Olivia Archer. You used to work for me." Of course, they were just security. She didn't know them personally, but she hoped to get to them.

Neither man spoke. Kyle looked at his two companions and moved onto the set of stairs, "Please, move aside."

As soon as he took his second step, so that he was full on the flight, he noticed some wires running around the stairs. One man pressed a button that Kyle hadn't noticed in his hand.

The stairs crumbled out from beneath him. He almost fell, but Declan grabbed him and pulled him back.

The two men left, walking up farther instead of keeping an eye on them.

"Now what?" Declan questioned.

"We'll find the elevator and take it up one level," Olivia said, "One level should be fine."

"No," Kyle said, "If they detonated this specific set, then I'm sure they're keeping an eye on the elevators at this floor as well. They won't let us up."

"Then we'll climb the shaft," Declan said.

Kyle stepped back, took a breath, and ran, jumping when the ledge ran out. He barely landed on the landing for the next set and turned back, "I'm going on alone," he told them.

"What about us?" Olivia questioned.

"Find a way," he said. He noticed the railing was gone too, so they couldn't cling to that. They could try walking on the sloped wall, but one wrong move would result in a fall.

Declan noticed it too, and jumped onto it. He looked straight down, down all the flights down. He positioned himself so that he would walk one foot in front of the other, and was about to go.

"Declan, no," Kyle told him.

"Kyle, Foss trained me," Declan said, "And I won't leave you."

One foot. He moved the other one in front, keeping relatively good balance. It wasn't perfect, but he was making his way up. Olivia stood and watched, having no intention of trying the same thing.

Once he was over halfway there, he lost his balance and almost went over. Granted, he would only fall onto the flight below, but the fall would still hurt and probably impede his ability to walk. But he regained it and continued up, jumping off to land next to Kyle.

"Keep going!" Olivia called, "I'll go find the others!"

"Good luck," Declan told Olivia, running up ahead with Kyle.

* * *

Meeting around the fifteenth floor, Olivia, Cassidy and Jessi saw no choice but to enter the actual building. There were guards coming from above and below. Perhaps Olivia and Cassidy were a threat, and those two had to be eliminated, while Kyle and Jessi – unfortunate to be with those two – were meant to keep going on for something pertaining to the experiment and presentation.

"Ok, now what?" Olivia questioned.

Cassidy cast his empty handgun aside, walking with minimal help, "I think it might be best to try the elevator."

"Why?" Jessi questioned.

"We get as far as we can, then we climb out," he said.

"I like that," Olivia said, looking down the corridor. They moved down, but after that they encountered a few Latnok workers. One of them hit a buzzer for security while another one fumbled in his desk.

Cassidy pulled his weapon and shot an electric arc into him, just in case he had a weapon. He kept his weapon out as they backed towards the elevator, going for the thirtieth floor. As soon as it arrived, and it was empty, the three climbed in and ascended.

"When they stop it, we climb straight up," Jessi said, "Olivia, lay down."

She didn't question it once Cassidy gave her a look. She laid on the ground in the middle of the elevator, and Jessi put her feet on either side of her. With a little focus Jessi began to levitate upwards, high enough to open the panel. She descended and stepped aside so Olivia could get up.

"We have our escape route," she said, watching the floors as they headed up.

* * *

Declan and Kyle stopped at the twenty eighth floor. Declan looked down and drew his weapon, "Kyle, go."

"Declan, no," Kyle said, "You're my protector and friend, but I'm not going to let you stay behind like this."

"Kyle, for all we know, they'll kill you," he said, "Let me buy you time."

"Declan, I won't let you die for me," Kyle told his friend, grabbing his arm, "I told Lori that I'd send you out to talk to her when we were done planning. I didn't, because we all left. You still have to talk to her."

Declan looked at him, "She'd understand."

"I won't tell her that you died," he said.

"I won't let her know you died either," Declan said, "Better me than you." He aimed his weapon down the staircase, "Go. Please."

"Declan, give me your clip," Kyle said, holding his hand out.

Declan looked at him, but had no time to argue. He released it from his weapon and passed it to Kyle, who promptly went about removing each bullet, placing one hurriedly on each stair before hurrying back up to Declan, "Do you have a lighter?"

Declan handed him the lighter he had in his pocket. The two waited, and as the group of men came into view, they raised their weapons.

Kyle moved in front of Declan, but nobody fired. Declan seemed to be the target, and Kyle was meant to live.

"Don't come any closer," Kyle told them.

"Send the other one down here," one of them told Kyle, "We have orders that you live. You and the woman. Everyone else dies."

"I won't send my friends to their deaths," Kyle told the security guard, holding the lighter tight against his palm, "We're going to see the meeting."

"You won't," the man said, taking one step up onto the flight of stairs, "I can still blow your kneecap out."

Kyle put all of his energy into this. He feared having to do anything else after, because he doubted he would have the strength to do so. He opened the lighter, starting a flame.

Each bullet on the stair went off. The gunpowder in each one blew the stair open with force, creating an ugly looking gap, but a gap none the less.

"Kyle!" Declan shouted, grabbing his arm and pulling him away as the startled guard shot. He pulled Kyle up to the twenty ninth floor, and then up towards thirty as the guards shot straight up in an attempt to stop the two.

Standing before the door for the thirtieth floor, Declan looked down; making sure the guards weren't following. "They might take the elevator."

"I know," Kyle said, opening the door. They looked down the corridor, seeing the glass meeting room, seeing the five buyers and Grace.

There was a video playing that they could see a part of. Kyle recognized some of it as things he had done while under guard by Latnok. They were showcasing his abilities already, and it wasn't noon yet.

"We have to hurry," Kyle said, running. Declan ran a moment later, just behind Kyle as they went down the corridor.

Just as they were about to reach it, they came into an open area. Four guards were poised there, weapons directed at the two of them. These were tazers, however. Not firearms. Crossfire was being avoided, and they apparently didn't want the lethality right outside of the buyer's presentation.

"Stop," one of the guards said, "Put down your weapon."

Declan's handgun was visible in his pants. He reached down slowly for it while Kyle looked into the room. So close. But they weren't able to be seen by the buyers, unless one would turn around. There was apparently some sort of soundproofing as well, or people talking outside were ignorable. Kyle guessed the former.

Declan slowly lifted the empty weapon from his belt. Kyle looked around and looked Declan in the eyes. He glanced up in haste, telling Declan what to do, he hoped. Declan seemed to understand, as his actions slowed.

"Put it down now!" one of the guards shouted at Declan.

"It's empty," he said, "See? No clip."

Kyle span around, knocking the tazer out of the hand of the guard next to him. He propelled himself with a jump across to the guards on the other side, grabbing one's arm and twisting it towards the other guard on that side. The guard Kyle had fired on accident, taking down the other one. Declan span around, pistol whipping the fourth guard while Kyle pulled the other one towards him and then towards Declan.

Declan grabbed him and lifted the gun straight up, firing the round in the chamber, emptying his weapon.

The gunshot was loud enough to hear. The buyers and Grace turned to look, seeing the three downed guards – about to be four – along with Kyle and Declan. Kyle walked to the door, pulling it open as he walked inside.

"This is the boy?" the female buyer asked.

"This is 781227," Grace said, "XY. Kyle Trager."

"Her son," Kyle said of Grace.

"Son?" the heavy set man asked, "Well, that's interesting."

"I'm impressed you made it here," she told Kyle, "Then again, you are very impressive."

"You're impressed I made it this far because of the virus, right?" Kyle asked.

"Virus?" one of the other buyers asked. He was Asian.

"Latnok and Grace Kingsly infected me with a virus in January," Kyle told all of them, "They wanted to terminate me. If it isn't treated, I'll die in a few days. But I'm here to stop this before that happens."

"Stop this?" the Asian man asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you understand how immoral this is?" Kyle asked. "You'd be purchasing humans made especially for the sake of your ownership. They would have wonderful abilities, yes, but they would be slaves. They would have no lives of their own."

He gestured his hand out towards Grace, "Latnok is attempting to play god. They've succeeded, and made two of us. But if they continue, they'll be making more and more humans that shouldn't exist. Humans that can be made into weapons."

Grace looked outside, "We don't have to look far to see what he means," she said, "Isn't it…wonderful?"

"Wonderful?" Kyle questioned her, "How can you say such a thing?"

"Purchasing one of them means that you have someone who can do almost anything for you. Security, anything technological. You've seen the video. You know what he can do, and they can do the same for you."

One of the buyers looked at Kyle. An older man, probably around eighty, "Tell me something, Kyle. You think this would be immoral. What if a purchase would be made, and the boy would be put to work helping people with his talents?"

"That's what I'm attempting to do with my life," Kyle said, "I do think that would be good, but another problem lies in the fact that you're still having a human created for you. A human who would still be doing what you told them to, even if it is a good cause. Creating humans like that is wrong."

The last buyer, a forty or so year old man, asked a question, "I've supported Latnok for years. I remember…two or so years ago, there was someone else in charge. A younger woman. Archer, I think her name was. I remember hearing of this project, and I asked her what had become of it. She said it was on hold.

"I asked her what else there was. She said it was all on hold, for the most part. Now, before that I was used to dealing with Grace Kingsly. I've invested in various projects. I've purchased various projects, including a C.I.R. for a hospital I own, and it's been a tremendous help there.

"Now, this was before this project was brought to anyone's attention. I never had an issue with the things Latnok did. I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I agree with you, Kyle. I believe this project is immoral and wrong. I've stood with Latnok many times, but today, I cannot."

"Thank you," Kyle told him, "I appreciate it."

The man rose from his seat and looked at Grace, "Terminate this project. Destroy everything. Or I will pull all of my funding out."

"We'll survive," she said.

"There are five buyers in this room," he said, "I believe we represent the majority of the cashflow to Latnok, do we not?" She didn't say anything, "I will see to it that all of our money is gone."

"You can't persuade them all," Grace said.

"I'm out," the woman said, "Playing god? No. Human projects are much different than the usual, and I don't like it. I'm a humanitarian."

"We take human life very seriously in my family," the Asian man said, rising.

"I like the project," the heavier man said, "You have my support, and the funding of my company."

The older man looked at them all, "I'm an old man with no family. When my son was still alive, and I still had my wife, I never believed in using a nanny. I'm too old to deal with a newborn at my age, and too old to remarry," he said, rising and going to stand with the others.

"You have me," the heavy man said again.

The elevator opened, putting Jessi, Olivia and Cassidy into view. They hurried over, entering the conference room as well.

"Mrs. Archer," the younger buyer greeted.

She gave him a nod.

Cassidy looked at them, "Well, looks like your money has abandoned you, mum," Cassidy said.

"Your son?" the woman asked.

"Michael Cassidy," he introduced.

"Robert's child," the older man said, "I quite liked Robert."

"I'm not my father."

The other man said nothing in response.

The heavy man got out of his chair and moved to Grace's side, "If I may?"

"What?" she questioned him with an acidic tone.

"You're not going to last long with only my money, as much as I would like you to be able to. I'm afraid our partnership is at its end, but not of my own accord," he said, walking to the door and moving past the others.

Grace looked at all of them, shaking her head, "What are you going to do with me?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Kyle said.

"No," Cassidy said, looking at his mother, "Olivia came and forced you out. It's time for a repeat of that."

"No need," she said, "I'll take a cue from you and go into my own exile."

"Good," Cassidy said, "Latnok isn't yours anymore."

Grace walked away from them, out the entrance on the other side of the room, leaving them alone.

"Well, what's going to happen then?" the Asian man asked.

"First, we need to get the virus out," Cassidy said, "And then, I'm taking over Latnok."

* * *

With the help of Latnok's staff, now under Cassidy's direction, the vaccine was located and provided to Kyle and Jessi.

"I can feel my power already," Jessi said, "And the pain is gone."

"My mind is clearer," Kyle said.

"Scan them," Cassidy said, "Let's make sure."

The two of them stepped into a scanner, similar to Emily's. They watched as their bodies were displayed upon being scanned. The virus was receding, being destroyed.

"Thanks, Cassidy," Kyle told his half-brother.

"You helped me get here," Cassidy told him, "And I've grown quite fond of you," he smiled.

"Listen," Kyle said, "Can I give you advice?"

"You're my brother," Cassidy said.

"Let Latnok die," Kyle said, "The organization, even as old as it is, is better off dead."

"What makes you say that?" Cassidy questioned.

"After the things Grace did with it, after this corruption…will its name ever be the same? Start new, Cassidy. Take these people, and start new. Let the name die, let the legacy die. Begin your own legacy, your own organization. Use it to help people."

He sighed, "Well…I don't want to be thought of by my mum, when people hear the name," he said. It was his way of agreeing.

The two of them made a quick embrace as brethren, before Kyle pulled away and looked at Jessi, "Well, let's go," she said.

"You destroyed it all, right?" Kyle asked Cassidy.

"All of it," he assured.

The two of them made their way out, leaving Cassidy behind, Olivia walking over to his side to start anew with him.

* * *

[Start "Seven Day Mile"]

Kyle and Jessi left the facility, planning on going home. It was getting late at this point, and Declan had already been told to go on ahead, to see Lori and tell everyone that they were coming.

"So…now what?" Jessi asked Kyle.

"We go on with life," Kyle told her.

_But Jessi's question was one I also had. Now what? Things are going right, we stopped Latnok and the experiment. Grace Kingsly is gone. I can trust Cassidy to do the right thing with his new organization._

_ But what do we do next? The end of this journey has come. Years have been spent on this, and it's over. I know that life can finally go on, but what life is that? What do I do with it at this time?_

_ I have my dreams, but are my dreams meant to be pursued at this moment? Or do I hold off? These questions plagued me, and they were my only real questions, finally. Without Latnok, life questions came to me._

_ I was beginning to understand the thoughts of someone going to college. What would they study? What were their plans for life? This was starting to become new to me, and it was exciting._

_ But as I looked to Jessi, another question came to my mind._

_ Amanda might be home by now. Which woman? Who did I love more? Who do I want to be with?_

_ But soon, I'll have to answer these questions. Soon, I'll have to find what to do with my life at the moment. Soon, I'll have to choose someone to love, and express that love to._

_ But for this moment, it was just myself and Jessi. And we had done it. We had stopped Latnok._

_ For now, I could be happy. Be at peace. Be content._

_ Because there was plenty of time to figure out what came next in the days to come._

[End "Seven Day Mile"]

* * *

This was a fun chapter for me to write. I enjoyed the culmination of everything up until now, in that Latnok finally fell. Or at least, as it was, it fell. With Cassidy leading it, there won't be problems. Cassidy isn't his parents, for one thing, so he won't start doing these immoral experiments. So they did succeed in stopping the corrupt Latnok by having Cassidy lead it (or whatever it becomes).

Of note is that when Cassidy shoots down the stairs after being wounded. He doesn't like Kyle's more pacifistic tendencies, so the no killing thing doesn't apply to him as much. He does what he has to. That's how I've always felt about his character. Even if that means killing people who really aren't that bad, because they work for bad people, and he knew he would die otherwise. Of course, Kyle doesn't approve, but understands it.

Ok. One more chapter for you guys. I hope you enjoy the finale. I know I enjoyed writing it.


	10. A Leaf on the Wind

Series finale. Notes at the bottom.

* * *

10: A Leaf on the Wind

As Kyle and Jessi walked back towards the Trager household in the twilight. The sky was a reddish orange, and it was beautiful. A mix of dark and light. A warm day, with a cooling breeze. Most shadows were no longer visible on the ground, but some were.

The feeling was warm. Beautiful. And as they came upon the house to see Stephen, Nicole, Josh, Lori and Declan standing there for them, it was an even more wondrous feeling.

They were home.

"Declan told us that you succeeded," Stephen told them.

"Are you…are you cured?" Nicole asked cautiously.

"We are," Kyle said with a smile, walking towards them, "I'm sorry, for keeping it from you two," he said to his siblings.

"No, it's completely understandable," Lori told him.

Josh nodded, "Yeah. You didn't want us to worry. Don't worry about it, as long as you're better."

The three of them stood there for a moment, and then they all embraced. Jessi stood watching them for a few moments before Kyle drew back, motioning for her to come.

"You're family too," Kyle told her.

Jessi smiled and walked over to them, joining in their hug.

"How was it?" Stephen asked Declan.

"I'm thankful to God that we got out of that one," he told Stephen quietly.

Stephen clasped him on the shoulder, "Good job, Declan."

When the hugging ended, Declan walked over, "I heard you wanted to talk to me, Trager," he told Lori.

"You can't call me that anymore," she told him with a smile, hugging him hard.

"Oh what? You get married in the meantime? That not your name anymore?"

"Oh come on," she told him, "You know me. My husband would take my name."

"Well, I know I'd be honored to be a Trager, after everything I've gone through for you guys," Declan told her with a smile.

Kyle looked on at them with a smile, and then heard something from the house. He looked over, seeing Andy come out.

"Kyle!" she called, hurrying over to him and giving him a hug, happy to see him. He returned it, "The phone wasn't enough," she told him.

"You go to college close, I guess?" he asked.

"In the state," she confirmed, "Transferring around a lot."

"Following me," Josh muttered as he walked over.

Andy broke the hug and looked at Josh, "I am not following you!" she told him.

"Then why are we always at the same college?" he questioned.

"I don't know, but it's not my fault!" she said.

Kyle smiled and laughed, "You know, I'm glad to know you too are still like this. Still together."

"We're not together!" she told Kyle.

Kyle just smiled, "It looks different to me, despite the arguing."

"We were together," Josh said, "Multiple times."

"And it ended. Multiple times," she told him, "It won't start again."

But once more, Kyle could only smile at that.

He looked over to Lori and Declan, but they were going inside, just as Stephen and Nicole had done. Josh and Andy continued to argue in the driveway.

Jessi walked up behind Kyle, tapping him on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she only pointed. He turned to look, seeing Amanda standing in her driveway, a small smile on her face and a light wave to him, as if she didn't know how to respond to seeing him after all this time.

"Go," Jessi told him.

And that's what Kyle did. In the twilight sky of that night, in the warm weather, with the cool breeze, as shadows dominated the world around them, he went to the woman of his heart in that picturesque, unforgettable day.

* * *

Nicole was sitting on the couch with a book in hand when Lori came in and looked around the living room.

"Are you looking for something?" Nicole asked her daughter.

"Just making sure we're alone," Lori said, sitting next to her mother.

"Why do you want to make sure of that?" Nicole asked her daughter.

"Well…I have a question for you," she said.

"And what would that be?" Nicole asked, closing her book.

Lori took a breath, then exhaled it, "Where can I study psychology?" she asked simply.

"Psychology?" Nicole asked her in surprise, "What about music?"

"Music isn't really working out for me like I had hoped it would," she said, "But…psychology seems like a good thing to try. It worked out for you, after all."

Nicole smiled, "Well…"

* * *

"Hi," Amanda said with her small smile.

"Hi," Kyle smiled back. The simple greeting between them was more than enough, it turned out.

"So, Lori called me, and I got here as soon as I could. First flight out," she told Kyle.

"I'm glad you could be here," he said.

"I'm just glad you're back, and you're ok," she said, "All I knew was that you were gone. I feared the worst…"

"I'll tell you about that later," he told her, "I'll tell you everything."

She smiled a little more, "I'm happy that there's not these secrets anymore between us."

"So am I," he told her. He looked back at Jessi, and then back to Amanda, "Can we talk later? You just got in, didn't you?"

"I did," she said.

"Go see your mother," he said, "I need to see my family, and as much as I want to be here with you right now, I need to see them and give my time to them for now."

"I totally understand," she said, "I'll call you?"

"Sure," he smiled, "We'll work it out later."

She stood up on her toes a little and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Kyle…I'm just so glad to see you again. It's been over a year."

"I know," he said, "It's been too long."

He stepped away from her. She gave him a wave and went into her house, as Kyle went back to the Trager house, and up the driveway.

"Well?" Jessi asked him.

"I'm talking to her later," he said, "For now; I want to be with my family."

* * *

Inside, there was a bit of a commotion going on. Mostly from Josh and Andy, playing G-Force in the living room. Josh was accusing her of cheating, and Stephen was getting enjoyment out of watching. He soon took up his own controller and joined the two of them.

Kyle looked at them for a time, feeling like this was right. He smiled, going on to the kitchen, where Lori and Declan were talking, and then onto his room, passing Nicole on the way as she went with a paper in hand to see Lori and Declan.

Jessi followed Kyle into his room and closed the door behind her, "I thought you wanted to be with them," Jessi told him.

"You saw it too," Kyle told her, "It seems…natural. Right."

"And?"

"And I don't want to disturb it," he told her, going and sitting in his tub, "For now, I'll be content here."

She smiled and went over, sitting on the other end of the tub, "Well then, I guess this is my place too. I wouldn't want to disrupt it either."

Kyle gave her a smile, still thinking about the two women in his life, but he still had time to sort it out.

"Well Kyle. Latnok is done, Cassidy has control, and he's your friend now. So what do you do next?" she asked him.

And then any smile he had vanished, "I don't know."

* * *

Declan laid himself on Lori's bed as she looked around her room, digging through her closet a little.

"What? Forget things?" he asked her.

"Just…looking," she said.

"Remembering?"

"I miss home a little, ok?" she told him.

"I can understand that," he said, looking up at the ceiling, "I missed you, you know."

"You had Kyle, at least," she said, turning to him, "And you never told me he was back."

"You know he didn't want to see you guys until he was better. He told you that yesterday," Declan said, "I wasn't going to tell you, not when Kyle had wanted that to be kept secret."

"I do understand that," she told him, "I really do."

"Then don't sound so angry about it," he told her.

"It's hard not to feel strange about it," she said, "Strange in that I want to hate you, but…"

"But what?" he asked.

"But yet feel so much about you," she said.

He smiled, "I think a lot of women say that about me."

"Oh shut up," she said, sitting down beside him, "You have no other women like me."

"Well, you have that one right," he told her, "You're one of a kind. In a good way."

"Thanks for the clarification," she told him.

He laughed and sat up, putting an arm around her shoulders, "Lori…you are an amazing woman."

"What's this now?" she asked, "A proposal? A declaration of your love for me?"

"No, just facts," he told her, "So, psychology? Going to follow that dream?"

"I thought it was for the best," she said.

"I think you're going to make one hell of a psychologist," he told her.

"I hope so," she said.

"But who's going to perform at my wedding now?" he asked her.

"The bride doesn't usually perform," she told him.

"Oh! Is that your way of proposing to me?" he joked.

"No, just taking a guess," she smiled as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Well, that guess might be a pretty good one. Or not," he said, "I guess we'll see."

"I guess we will."

* * *

"Ok, that's enough for me," Stephen told Andy and Josh, putting down his controller, "I can't take you guys. You're too good." He got out of his chair, about to walk out of the room, and turned back, "Seriously, what are you doing at college? Do you even go to your classes?"

"If I spent all my time doing this, I might be able to beat Andy," he told his father.

"Good point," he told Josh, walking out.

"No, never going to happen," she told Josh, "No matter how much you practice, you can't beat me."

"I'll find a way, someday," he told her.

"I'm just too good. It's not possible for you to get that good, because that would possibly mean you're more awesome than I am, and that's just not possible."

He smiled, "You know Andy, what happened to us? I mean, we're so good like this, and even if you hate me, we're here, hanging out, playing games and having fun. What's all that about?"

"Well, I'm here for Kyle more than I am for you," she told him.

"I don't believe that one," he said, "You love me."

She turned her head to him, "I do not."

"Got you!" he laughed, rejoicing as he killed her character.

She looked at the screen, "You're a dead man."

"We'll see…," he trailed off as she killed him that quickly. He put down his controller, "Ok, I quit."

"What, am I too good for you?" she asked him.

He took another meaning, "I don't know. Maybe. But I'm not going to stop until we're good enough for each other."

She put down her controller, "Josh…"

"Don't say anything," he told her, "I mean it."

"Well…," she dragged out the word, "Good luck with that."

"I mean it, I'm going to become good enough, and we're not going to keep going through this cycle. We'll move to the next step, and then stop. We won't break up again."

"We're not getting back together," she told him.

"We will," he said with a smile, "I assure you that."

He stood up, prompting her to as well, "Josh…"

"No, I've put my mind to it," he said, walking out of the room, "It's going to happen! It's going to be magical!"

"Josh!" she called.

But he ignored her. He just walked on and hurried upstairs. She ran up after him, shouting his name.

* * *

As Kyle lay in the tub, listening to the things around him in the house, he heard a knock at the window. He turned his head to see Amanda there, having been the one knocking. He sat up; about to get to it, but Jessi opened the window first.

"Hi," Amanda told her.

"Hi," she replied, "Here for Kyle?"

"Of course," Amanda said.

"I'm not good enough?" Jessi asked.

Amanda just smiled.

Kyle watched the two of them, happy that at least they were getting along fairly well by the look of it. Kyle walked over towards the window, "It's ok Jessi, I've got it."

Jessi nodded, "Well, have fun you two," she said.

"It was good to see you, Jessi," Amanda said.

Jessi nodded, "Same," she said, leaving the room.

It was dark out now, as night had fallen. Amanda didn't enter, instead she held her hand out, "Would you like to come outside, into the night?"

He smiled, "Yeah," he said, grabbing out the window and pulling himself out. He closed the window behind him, taking Amanda's hand softly, "Where to?"

"Just here, under the stars," she told him.

He smiled, "Hold on," he said, pushing his window open and grabbing a bottle of water from his desk. He poured it out on the ground before closing his window again. He took the girl of his dreams into his arms and stepped into the wet ground, levitating the both of them up.

"Kyle…," she said.

"Just like at prom. Almost," he said with a smile.

"I've forgotten how wonderful you are," she told him, "How these powers are."

He set the two of them onto the roof and sat down, lying his back against the slant as he looked up at the stars. She put herself beside him, looking up as well, leaning her side against his.

"I love you, Amanda," was the first thing he told her as he looked up.

She smiled, "Kyle…"

"But I also love Jessi," he told her. He had to add that.

"I understand," she told him, turning her head to look at him, "The two of you are the same, after all. It would be strange not to have feelings for her too."

"I'm glad you understand," he said.

"I have no problem with it. Not anymore," she told him softly. As he turned his head to her, she leaned over as he did, sharing a kiss with him. When she pulled back a little she continued on, "Take your time to find what you need. Find what you want. Whether it's Jessi or me, I'll understand. Ever since I've known you, all you've really done is help other people. This time help yourself, Kyle. Find what can make you truly happy. **Who** can make you truly happy."

He nodded, "I will," he told her, looking back up with her.

"I'm in college in New York now," she said to him, "I'm still planning my future. What about you, Kyle? What are you going to be doing with yourself?"

"I don't know," he said.

* * *

As he took Amanda down from the roof – a leap down with her in his arms, at her insistence – he let her go back home. She wanted to sleep, but would talk to him tomorrow. She had already heard the story about where he had been, and what had happened with Latnok. That his life was now his own once again.

As Kyle was turning to go inside, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello Kyle."

Kyle turned around to see the familiar figure of Tom Foss standing there, hands in pockets. Kyle turned fully to him and walked towards him, "Foss?"

He smiled a little and gave a nod, "Yeah, it's me," he told Kyle.

Foss extended his hand for a shake. Kyle took it and drew forward into a sort of hug with his other arm. Foss returned it, even though it felt odd for him to do. When it was done and Kyle stepped back, Foss spoke to him.

"This is the last time you'll see me," he said.

"Odd thing to start the conversation with," Kyle said, "And it doesn't have to be."

"It will be," Foss told him, "Take care of yourself, and your life. For me. For Adam."

"You can be here, and be a part of the life I'll live," he told Foss.

"I can't be," Foss said, "You stopped Latnok. There are still problems in the world, and people who may come after you, but you stopped the threat that existed and targeted you, and your way of life."

"Because of your help," he told Foss.

Foss gave him a small smile, "Kyle, take care of yourself."

"What are you going to do?" Kyle asked him.

"I'm going to go on with my life. I think it's about time I do that, don't you?"

"Of course," Kyle smiled.

Foss gave him a smile, "Good job, bringing down Latnok."

"How did you find out?" Kyle asked him.

"I have contacts," Foss said, "Contacts I trust with my life, as it turns out. That includes one or two people in Latnok who reported to me."

Kyle nodded, "Have a good life."

"You too. Kyle."

"Bye…Tom."

Foss gave a nod and walked down the dark driveway, hands back in his pockets. Kyle watched the man who protected him and helped to train him take his leave. It was hard for Kyle, because he was sure that Tom Foss was being serious.

That would be the last time they met.

He didn't want it to be, but he knew it would be.

A part of his life was gone now. Gone forever.

_Maybe it's time to replace that part of my life by growing. Maybe it's time I found my path._

* * *

The next morning felt wonderful. No stress of the virus. No stress of Latnok. Nothing like that.

It felt like years ago, suddenly. Things were normal again.

Andy had stayed the night with them, but Declan had gone home. He was sure Declan would be back later.

As he walked into the kitchen at six in the morning, he was surprised to find people up. Namely Lori, Nicole and Hillary.

"Hi Kyle," Hillary told him.

"Hillary?" he asked.

"I had to be here for Lori," she said, "Otherwise, no. I wouldn't be up this early. But friends. Sacrifices. You get it, right?"

"Yeah…"

Kyle took an apple and continued on his way, hearing bits of a conversation about psychology. Kyle smiled. Lori was finding a good path for herself, it sounded like.

"You going out?" Jessi asked as she descended from the upstairs.

"I am," Kyle told her.

"I'm coming too," she told him.

"This early?" he asked.

"It's a new day. It's a new era for us, you could say," she told him.

"It is," he said, opening the door and entering the cooler morning with her. He took a bite out of his apple as they walked.

"I'd offer a race, but I'm going to let you eat," she said.

"A race will be fine when I'm done," he told her.

She put her hands in her pockets, "What did Amanda have to say?"

"She talked about the future," he said, leaving it at that, "And I still don't quite know what I'm doing with mine."

"Me neither," she said.

"I guess that's not good for either of us," he told her as he ate more of his apple.

"No," she said, "But it doesn't matter for now."

As they walked a few more blocks, Kyle stopped. "Something's wrong," he said.

"What is it?" she asked him.

He threw the apple aside and started to run. She followed after him, running as fast as she could. His pace was faster than a normal run. It was him, running to danger.

They came around the corner, seeing a house on fire and the fire department having trouble containing the blaze. It was huge, preventing them from entering inside. They saw an old man there, shouting that they had to get inside, that his three grandchildren were still inside and that they were only infants. He was breaking down into tears.

Kyle looked at Jessi and pulled his hood up. She had no hood, so she couldn't. The two of them ran towards the flames, plunging straight in thanks to the lack of a barricade to keep people out from the street.

"Hey!" one of the firefighters shouted, "It's too dangerous! What are you doing?"

The old man was confused, and broke down into more tears. As far as he could tell, two people from the street had just run into the flames. He already assumed he had three lives on his hands, and now two more.

In a few moments two figures burst through the flames, clothes completely on fire. But the man crouched down, setting two things down before tearing off his hooded shirt and letting it burn.

Two of the infants. Covered in ash and coughing. The woman set down the third, the same condition, before she tossed her flaming shirt off.

They all noticed that the two weren't burned. The old man crawled to his grandchildren, kissing them, holding them as the firefighters took them from him to check on them.

"Thank you!" the old man told them, in tears, "Thank you. You're godsends! I can never repay you."

As Jessi ran off ahead, Kyle looked back at the old man and gave him a smile, then ran off to join Jessi before anyone saw too much of them.

"That was stupid," she told Kyle.

"They would have died without us," he told her.

"No. Staying there and being seen," she told him.

"It was fine," he said, "I don't think they'll remember."

"I hope not," she said.

"Did it feel good?" he asked her.

"It did," she said.

He stopped running, so she stopped as well, "What?"

He smiled a little, "I had an idea of what to do with my life, and now I know," he told her, "Thanks to Latnok, partially. And this…this just tells me what I need to do."

"And what is that?" she asked him.

* * *

[Start "Chicago"]

_I always had an idea of what I wanted to do with my life, and that day was what made me truly realize it. I have no regrets in the direction my life has taken, and I would do it all over again._

_ When Latnok took me for a year, they wanted to show me the world. They wanted me to see good lives, and bad lives. They wanted me to see everything, and try to persuade me to use the C.I.R. to become a god, to reach out and help everyone._

_ If they were sincere or not, I don't know. What I do know is that my choice is similar to what they wanted me to do. I've traveled the world for a year and helped people. I've helped the old, the sick, the homeless. I've helped everyone in every country that I could. _

_ I've helped to protect the rain forests. I've helped indigenous people keep their lands in various countries. I've protected people from those who would force them to do things against their will. Food for the hungry. Energy sources that don't destroy the resources. I've done whatever I could._

_ From Africa to South America to Europe to Egypt to India. I've traveled everywhere I could. For me, home will always be with the Tragers, but I've been making connections everywhere I go. I've been making sure people know that there's someone out there looking out for them._

_ Some know me as a guardian angel, but I don't like that. I'm here to help them, but that's not what I am. I'm just a man. A drifter. A leaf, blowing on the wind. I go where I believe I'm needed, farther and farther from home._

_ Farther from the life I know and love, and to a new life every time. Today I'll be in Africa, and tomorrow, Mexico. I go everywhere, helping everyone. This is my passion; this is the life I have made for myself._

_ I go where I need to go. I go where I'm needed. I am the leaf on the wind. Wherever people need me, I will go. And now, they need m at home._

* * *

Kyle stood outside of the Trager household after a year of travels. He smiled, hauled his bag up onto his shoulder, and made his way up the driveway. A little taller, a little stronger. He hadn't changed much, but he had changed in his time away. He had helped many people, and they had all taught him something new, or reaffirmed something he already knew.

He walked through the front door to find his family waiting for him with open arms. Stephen with his arm around Nicole. Josh, standing hand in hand with Andy, an engagement ring on her finger. Lori and Declan, his arm around her back.

And Jessi, standing on the stairs and looking down to him, a smile of approval gracing her lips.

"I'm home," he told them.

* * *

As Kyle lay with Amanda on the roof that night, looking up at the stars, he turned to her, "I've found a new type of love," he told her.

"For the people you help?" she asked him.

He nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"And...what else? Anything?" she asked him hesitantly.

"No," he said sadly, looking up.

_In my time with both Amanda and Jessi, my heart has been divided two ways. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find which way my heart truly wishes to go. It wouldn't be fair anymore to choose one over the other. Even if my heart will break, as theirs might, in the longrun, I'm doing this for the both of them._

* * *

Kyle walked into the dining room, looking at his usual place at the table. Sitting on the opposite end were Lori and Josh. On his left at one head of the table was Stephen, and at his right was Nicole. From his left around, Stephen, Lori, Josh, Nicole.

Not Andy. Not Declan. Not Amanda. But there sat Jessi, sitting to his right, as a part of the family. As another sibling, taken in by the Trager family.

Kyle sat down to dinner, looking at his family with a smile.

This was home.

This was life.

_And I couldn't have asked for a better life. Or a better family._

He looked to each one in turn, at their smiling faces as they passed the dishes around to each member in turn.

_And I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out._

[End "Chicago"]

* * *

Well. That's it. This is the story I came to tell, the story I told as closely to the material revealed to us by the creators that I could tell. I am extremely happy with how this final chapter turned out, and how my additions to the story played out.

Originally I had it as Kyle choosing Amanda, but thanks to a reviewer (see Author's Note 2), the scene has been changed to reflect how it should have gone, at least, how I feel it should have here.

Clearly Josh and Andy are back together, and will stay together. The love/hate thing they had, I always felt, was just their way of doing things. The creators said they would get together, break up, transfer, and keep going through those cycles. So I figure that at this point (well, early season 6) that their love/hate thing was just their own thing.

Lori chooses psychology, and since it's not mentioned, yes, it does work for her. She does well with those studies, and is happy. She and Declan are also back together, and would end up married, as far as I'm concerned. They would have canonically ended up together, so I'll just throw out and say that in my canon, they do get married. And Declan probably takes her name. Or a hyphenated name for both of them.

To me, this has been an honor, and a pleasure to have reviewers and people truly enjoying what I had to offer. You guys are great, and I'm going to miss this. Saying goodbye to this work is hard. The end of this chapter was so hard to write, at their dinner table. The last line, especially, was the hardest. How do I bring it all to a close? It's just a coincidence I chose that line for Kyle, because I feel the same way, more or less. There are a few things I could stand to change, looking back, but for the most part, I couldn't be happier with how this project turned out.

Once again, thank you everyone. This has truly been a worthwhile project for me, and I hope it's been good for all of you to read as well.


	11. Author's Note

Just a quick note I want to make. I believe Kyle/Amanda was the canon ending for the coupling, which is why it's included. I prefer those two to Kyle/Jessi, but I was going based on the creators. They either said or implied it was Amanda, so I went with Amanda.


	12. Author's Note 2

Second author's note.

Since I don't have the interview information anymore, I wasn't able to check, but a reviewer gave me the direct quote. I was indeed mistaken, and had misremembered what they said. His love with Amanda would have gone past puppy love, but he's destined to be alone, most likely.

I will fix the scene and change the ending to suit that. Thank you reviewer for giving me the direct quote.


End file.
